52 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



Upon the point of harvesting there is con sideraLle differ- 

 ence of opinion as well as practice. There are three general 

 methods in use, viz : topping off the stalks, or cutting the 

 same just above the ear ; cutting up at the roots ; and letting 

 the same stand upon the hill until thoroughly ripened before 

 cutting. In the first of tliese, the desire is to save the stover 

 in better condition, upon the supposition that the corn will 

 ripen equally well, but which leaves the bottom stalk nearly 

 worthless. The second is believed to save the bottom portion 

 of the stalk equally well with the top, assuming that the corn 

 ripens equally as well as though allowed to stand upon the hill. 

 In the third, both are left upon the hill, because it is believed 

 that although the stover is more or less injured thereby, the 

 weight of corn is considerably augmented in consequence of 

 such practice. Each of these courses has its advocates ; but 

 certain experiments, all of which in results tend in one direc- 

 tion, are in favor of cutting up by the roots just after the 

 kernels of corn are seared over. But notwithstanding the 

 pointedness of these results in one direction, probably one 

 half the corn planted in this state is topped. Of different 

 experiments tried, although somewhat varied, the results all 

 point to the same end. In one the result was only about four 

 per cent, in favor of cutting up over topping, and six per cent, 

 in favor of cutting over letting stand on the hill. In another 

 the result was more favorable, being seventeen per cent, in 

 the second case and thirteen in the first. In still another, the 

 percentage in favor of cutting up was about seventeen. In tliis 

 case, as it was claimed that the greenness of the corn made a 

 difference, all was allowed to remain until thorouglily dried, 

 and by weight the result was in favor of cutting up by about 

 twenty-one per cent., and in this last an attempt was made to 

 satisfy tlie question of the relative value of fodder in each case; 

 and the result was, that while it was evident that the portion 

 allowed to remain with the ear is mostly changed to woody 

 fibre, that those stalks cut up by the roots were equally as 

 good, as a whole, as the tops taken off above the ear. But 

 returning to the corn, one fact was noticable in all the experi- 

 ments, and that was, that while the corn topped was less 



