Show may find corn that will withstand heat and cold some strains of yellow dent corn that are resistant to cold will also withstand more heat beat than corn that Is not cold resistant the united states department of agriculture announces the resistance resl tance to both heat and cold Is due to the higher proportion of bound water in the corn plant the department part ment says the experimenting indicating the heat resistant quality of corn were made in operation cooperation co with the illinois agricultural experiment station the corn specialists give the water in the white of an egg as an example of bound water while that in a sponge Is free water bound water forms a part of the plant plants high in bound water resist heat damage because the heat can not draw so much of the moisture from the plant and it can thus endure more heat in cold weather the cold can not so easily freeze the water in the plant into tee ice crystals thus breaking up the cell structures bound water thus accounts for both heat beat and cold resistance the experiments showed that heat resistant plants increased their bound water capacity with successive heat and drought spells they also found that if the heat came on gradually the corn was hardened to it and held more bound water and withstood more beat although the heat resistance and cold resistance studies are several steps ahead of oc the general farmer the department points out that the discovery means that eventually improved strains of corn will be produced tint that will tend to resist hent heat as well as cold |