May 3,1924 Relative Merits of Sweet Corn Varieties for Canning 433 
in appearance. This variety at 25 days was still in the milk stage, but the 
product from the corn was hard and unpalatable even at 20 days. 
From these results it seems apparent that some factor or factors other than 
moisture content and toughness of the kernel in the raw state determine the 
consistency and texture of the product from these varieties of field corn. Whether 
this would hold true for all field varieties remains to be determined. 
GENERAL DISCUSSION 
** 
For a proper evaluation of the foregoing data certain general considerations 
must be held in mind, and before final conclusions are drawn from the work 
what appears to be significant facts deserve more attention than they have thus 
far received in the present treatment of the subject. 
ENVIRONMENTAL CONSIDERATIONS 
At the outset it should be remembered that with the exception of the com¬ 
parative canning tests of preceding seasons the bulk of the work upon which 
the present report is based was confined to one season only, and the findings 
are known to apply, therefore, to but one location and one set of environmental 
conditions. While it is believed that the main facts brought forward here 
would be found applicable to all parts of the country, it is fully realized that a 
similar line of experimentation conducted in some other section of the country, 
or even in the same place but with differing conditions, might and doubtless 
would yield somewhat different results from those obtained in the present case. 
For example, temperature is known to have a very great influence upon the 
development of the maize plant, and without doubt it also materially affects 
the rate at which the corn matures in the ear. For this reason it is probable 
that in a more northern latitude the rate of coming to canning maturity would 
be somewhat slower than was found in the present instance. The amount and 
distribution of rainfall is likewise known to exert a powerful influence upen the 
progress of corn development, a severe drought during the latter part of the 
growing season materially hastening the ripening processes. 
In view of the very important relation between maturity of the corn and the 
quality of the canned product as brought forth in this report, it seems highly 
desirable that similar work be done in the various sweet-corn-producing sections 
of the country to the end that canners may more effectively control the quality 
of their product by the consistent handling of the raw corn at the proper stage 
of maturity. The bringing together of such information from various sections 
of the country would likewise be of great scientific value by throwing light upon 
the physiology of the developing corn plant. 
Another fact of importance to remember in the present connection is that corn 
as a plant is not only very responsive to environmental conditions but also that 
in the hands of growers and breeders the characteristics of a particular variety 
may be very materially altered in a few seasons. Many different strains of cer¬ 
tain varieties have arisen in this way which are sufficiently unlike in their be¬ 
havior to make it impossible to judge of the qualities of all by the observation of 
one. It has very frequently been claimed that corns from the same strain pro¬ 
duced in different parts of the country behave differently when grown side by 
side. Therefore, it is probable that other strains of the varieties studied in the 
present case, or even the same strains the seeds of which had been secured from 
different sources, would have yielded different comparative results from those 
obtained in the present instance, even though grown under identical conditions. 
This emphasizes again the need for more experimental work along these lines on 
the spot where the various strains have been adapted to local environments. 
