Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1892-11-16
WHY POPCORN POPS.

Why does popcorn pop?
Ask the first twenty learned men you
can find and not one of them. will be
able to tell you. The secret lies in the
structure of the grain, which is very
wonderful indeed.
In the center. of each grain of pop
corn is the "germ" of the futue plant.
It holds the vital element of the seed.
What is it like? Well, it is about the
size of large pin-head. It's outer coat
is a membrane of woody matter, inside
of which is an oily substance. contain
ing nitrogen and phosphorus. Embed.
ed in this oily substance is the spu-
cleus."
The "nucleus" is the true gem-the
essential life.principle of the seed. 1t
is chiefly composed of albumen, and Is
just big enough to be seen with the
naked eye. Small as it is it contains
mystery which no man has ever solved
or is ever likely to solve-the mighty
secret of reproduction. However, there
are more things of interest to be noticed
in the outer structure of the popcorn
grain.
Gathered around the germ are gran.
ules of starch, arranged in layers and
so regularly placed as to resemble
crystalline structure. In fact, like
crystals, though they are not such,
these granules possess the peculiar
property of "polarizing" light. Seen
under the microscope they have very
beautiful forms. Between each two
layers of them is woody membrane,
and covering the whole is the hard ex-
ternal envelope of the corn grain, COM
posed of woody matter with a large
proportion of mineral substances, such
as lime silex, potash and magnesia.
Think what an amazing quantity of
nutritious food is thus packed in little
space for the use of the embryo plant,
which first absorbs the nitrogen and
phosphorus contained in the so-called
sgerm" envelope, afterward consum-
ing the starch and.so getting ready to
sprout.
A popcorn grain has precisely the
same substance as grain of ordinary
corn. It's simply variety of the same
species of plant. Why, then will not
common corn pop? It will do so, as
you can find out for yourself by trying,
but it does not pop nearly so well,
though now and then grain will excel
lently. The reason is that the starch
granules in popcorn are packed more
tightly and the woody membranes be-
tween the layers are thinner and more
easily ruptured. Heat causes the water
that is in the starch to expand, the ex-
ternal envelope is burst open and the
grain turn itself inside out, becoming
fifteen times its original size or more
and showing the pretty white starch
outside.
That is the reason why popcorn
pops.
The best popcorn is the light-yellow
kind with small pointed grants. There
is hardly farm in the West that does
not have its patch of popcorn for home
consumption, but nearly all of the pop
corn raised for market is produced in
New England. A story is told of
Massachusetts farmer who had barn
half filled with popcorn newly harvest
ed and "shucked." The building
caught fire, the popcorn popped and an
enormous wave of it rolled down hill,
covering up the farm houses so that
only the chimneys were to be seen, and
the families had to be dug out by the
neighbors with snow shovels. Atpres-
ent the business of manufacturing but
tered popcorn is conducted on vast
scale in Chicago and elsewhere, mil
lions of packages of it being distribu-
ted for sale all over the United States.