A Farm and Home Weekly for the Carolina, Virginia, Tennessee and Georgia
RALEIGH, N. C, SEPTEMBER 6, 1906. Weekly-$1 a Year.
TWO WAYS OF ILYRVESTIVG CORN.
I. Cutting the Entire Stalk By Hand is Infinitely Better Than the Wastful Practice of
':..V;-:j- - Fodder Pulling..' . fe& -. ; ,' .
. - : w
4V -ifcf 4? JWsi -Hi -5. " " ft Vv "
ii -- , ....
f Courtesy of Rural Magazine.
II. still Cheaper, Less Troublesome, and Still More Satisfactory in Every Way is Harvest
ing With a Binder" Farmers Should Combine to Purchase Improved Machinery and
Co-operate in Harvesting Corn Just as They Do in Threshing Wheat. j
PROGRESSIVE FARMER VOL. XXI. NO. 30.
THE COTTON PLANT VOL. XXIII. NO. 29.
THE RIGHT WAY TO HARVEST THE CORN
CROP.
In our discussion of "fodder pulling" we show
ed that nearly half the feed value of the corn
plant is i nthe "stover" that is, leaves, stalks and
shucks.
Since we grow corn for feed only, the above
well-established fact is sufficient basis for the dic
tum that any system or method of harvesting the
corn crop worthy of consideration must be such
as will save and put into the best possible condi
tion for feed the entire corn plant.
There are two methods of saving the crops
which fulfill fairly well these requirements. Ex
periments or in other words, experience have
shown that the method which best fulfills our re
quirements is to put the entire plant in the silo.
It is true that even by this method some feed
value is lost, but this loss is not so great as by
any -method which involves the drying or curius
of the plant, and a superior palatability and high
er digestibility are undoubtedly obtained by the
use of the silo.
- ,The Silo Is; the" Itfethocir"' "
Probably not all, but certainly a part of the corn
should be put in the silo, but it is not our purpose
;in this article to discuss this method of saving the
feed value of the corn plant. At. some other time
we may do so, but for the present suffice it to state
that any man having fifteen head of cattle or
idle horses and mules to winter, cannot afford to
be without a silo.
The method which we wish to discuss at this
time is one by which the entire plant is cured in
a dry state and put in the best possible condition
to be used as dry feed. In this connection the
first point to be considered is the stage of develop
ment of the plant, or the time when the plant as
a whole contains the greatest feed value.
Corn Crop 'TJsually Harvested Too Soon.
This question was also referred to in our discus
sion of "fodder pulling," but its importance is such
that it should be stated again in this connection
After considerable experience, accurately meas
ured and interpreted, the Iowa Experiment Station
came to the following conclusions on this point.
( 1 ) The stover of a crop of corn seems to reach
the highest yield and the best condition at the
stage of .growth indicated by a well-dented kernel
and the first drying of the blades.
(2) The grain of a crop of corn seems to reach
the highest yield and the best condition of utility
at the stage of growth indicated by a well-ripened
ear and a half-dried blade.
(3) The time for harvesting the crop with refer
ence to the highest utility of both corn and stovei
is at a stage of ripening between the two periods
stated above. ' '
This best time for harvesting the crop so as to
obtain the greatest f?ed value the plant is capable
of furnishing, may be stated as from one to two
weeks after the usual time at which . fodder is
pulled in the Southern States.
The next point to be considered is the most
economical way of saving and utilizing this great
est feed value of the entire corn plant. We have
already shown that the pulling of fodder is expen
sive and wasteful; and the custom of allowing all
the stover to remain in the field until after the
ears are gathered late in the fall, is equally in
defensible; for it has been shown by careful ex
periments (accurately measured experience) that
under such conditons nearly one-naif the feed
value of the stover is lost, just as hay that is al
lowed to get over-ripe or weather in the field loses
very largely in feed value. J .
All Corn Should Be Cut.
From the foregoing we conclude that for the
best results the properly matured plant must be
cut and shocked so that it will cure; with' the least
possible loss of feed value. )
We may consider two methods of cutting the
corn. One is to cut by hand and the other with
the corn harvester or binder. j
In a recent issue of The Progressive Farmer
Mr. R. W. Scott, of Alamance County, stated that
he cut fifty acres of corn, averaging fully thirty
bushels per acre, at a cost of not over $1 per acre.
This he undoubtedly did, but it may .cost most
men a little more than this; therefore," let us alloT
from $1.25 to $1.50 per acre ftn; the entire cost of
cutting and shocking corn averaging thirty bush
els per acre, which will include wear and tear on
machinery. . r
The cutting and shocking may be done by hand
for about the same or slightly greater cost, say fif
teen cents to twenty-five cents per acre, when, man
labor is reasonably cheap and abundant, but the
' (Continued on Page 9.)