CORN FACTS IV: Inedible parts of the corn plant are used in industry. Stalks are made into paper and wallboard; husks are used as filling material; cobs are used for fuel, to make charcoal, and in the preparation of industrial solvents. Corn grain is processed by wet milling, in which the grain is soaked in a dilute solution of sulfurous acid; by dry milling, in which the corn is exposed to a water spray or steam; and by fermentation, in which cornstarches are changed to sugars, and yeast is employed to convert the sugars into alcohol. Corn husks also have a long history of use in the folk arts for objects such as woven amulets and corn-husk dolls.

Corn is one of the most widely distributed of the world’s food plants; it is exceeded in acreage planted only by wheat. It is grown from 58¡ N latitude in Canada and Russia to 40¡ S latitude in South America, with a corn crop maturing somewhere in the world every month of the year. It is the most important crop in the United States, which produces about half the world’s total. Nearly two-fifths of the U.S. crop is exported annually. China ranks second in average production, followed by Brazil, Mexico, and Argentina.