Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1870-12-16
Shrinkage of Corn in Drying.

fdfInpTS WHO WISH 10 SUI lHtlT COIn
crop to the best advantage, or to balance
properly the loss in weight by keeping,
against the increase price for old corn, are
often puzzled by the diverse opinions
which prevail relative to the amount lost
in drying There is sufficient reason for
this diversity in the fact that there is no
very definite standard to which they can
REFER experiments giving quite different
results. When the season, as the past one
in many parts of the country, is long, hot,
and dry, favoring an early ripening of the
crop, the ears have that horny dryness
when hllsked, indicating the completion of
the drying process to great extent, which
renders the grain fit for grinding and feed
ing. In moist seasons, on the contrary,
the crop may be imperfectly matured, and
Autumn rains may keep the grains and
cobs soaked with water. II is obvious that
in the former instance, there will he very
little of that loss in weight which will be
so conspicuous in the latter, after it has
been kept fully exposed to air currents for
several months. Every husker has OBJ
served, even in the same field and in the
same year, great difference in the condi-
ton of the corn. Some of the ears will be
well dried and matured, while others will
be heavy and water-soaked; and there will
be all grades of condition between them
Hence, in making experiments to deter
mine the loss of weight by drying, fir
average alone can be reSorted to, and the
eXperimenter must exercise considerable
amount of observation in determining the
general condision of the corn.
During the past season, we performed,
by careful weighing and measuring, a Sc
ries of experiments to determine some of
these disputed points. The last year being
wet and cold, we allowed the corn to dry a
month or more in the open air, or until
about the first of the year, before commenc-
ing the experiments, this time being re-
quired to bring the ears to fair average
condition of moderately dry seasons.
Corn in ears taken from the crib about
the first of January, and kept in a dry
apartment till the following October, lost
one-filth part of its bulk. The variety
was the large eight-rowed commonly culti-
waited at the North. Taking this to be a
fair average, we perceive that the farmer
who sells his corn by measure, can afford
to sell five bushels of ears late in autumn
or at the beginning of winter, for the same
sum that he would receive for four bushels
at the close of the following summer,
without making any allowance, as he al
ways should, for nine months Interest and
the consumption of rats. Putting all the
waste and the probabilities together, and
the trouble of transfer, it will be safe to
| lay 1t down as general rule, that dollar
per bushel for corn in ears at the begin
ming of autumn is no better than seventy
five cents Immediately after husking
But in measuring corn in the ear, there
will be much variation, according to the
manner in which it is done. We have
found that a full, compact heaped hal,
bushel of moderate sized eight-rowed ears
weighed twentyfour. pounds, and con
tanned fifty-six ears in number. Thrown
in loosely, or at random, and heaped, there
were only forty-four ears, and the weight
was less than nineteen pounds. Every
farmer should therefore insist on selling
all his corn by weight, as being more accu
rate and attended with better satisfaction
to both parties.
Where the standard weight of bushe
of corn is sixty pounds, the weight of {
bushel in the ear will vary from siXty-eigh
to seVenty-five pounds. Ears with small
cobs, we'll dried, will afford scarcely eigh
pounds of cobs to the bushel; while will
larger cobs and the corn freshly husked
they may amount to twelve or thirteel
pjUnds.
A wet cob will weigh muclr more thar
a dry one, and thus there is a chance fol
much variation. We have known them tC
lose one-fourth' their weight by drying
three weeks. Farmers who sell corn II
the ear TO any extent should therefort
shell bushel first, and weigh grain anG
cob separately, which may be done in {
few minutes, and they can then know
whether they are giving more grain than {
bushel requires. .rt
The shelled grain alone shrinks much il
bulk, and loses in weight by long drying
In one experiment, where the corn, drying
slightly till January, was placed and wei
exposed in room heated by stove, i
lost one-twentieth in bulk in three weeks
! and about one-eighth in weight. After dry
ing some months longer, it lost more, Sc
as to shrink TO a bulk compared with IL!
original size, as six is to seven. The de
crease in weight by this thorough drying
was as six to five. This result nearly cor
responded with that of another expert
I ment, where the corn was dried on thu
cob in room where no fire was kept.
II will be seen by these experiments, tina
corn shelled and sold in the early part o
winter can be disposed of at better prof
for eighty cents per bushel in weight, thar
at dollar per bushel the following sum
mer or autImn and that there would bt
nearly but not quite this difference, in tn,
two conditions, If the grain were sold OF
the cob
As we have already said, the result will
vary with seasons, and they will doubtless
be affected by the kind of corn, whether i
be the eight-rowed with slender cob, or thu
dent or gourd: seed, with thick heavy cob
We state the result of these various ex
periments TO show how easily farmers may
determine for rthemselves how much they
gain or lose by selling early or keeping
| their grain long timo, To be sold shell
ed, it must of course be welldried to keeI
sound and free from mould; but in tho
ear, it may be disposed of at any tim'