378 EXPERIMENTAL FARMS 



2 GEORGE V., A. 1912 



high for the two-horse machine the one-horse cultivator will be required to complete 

 the season's work. Cultivation should not be deep at any time and should get' shallower 

 as the season advances. 



To make the cultivation complete some hand work with hoes is usually necessary. 

 This can best be done When the corn is about a foot high. If the corn is too thick in 

 the row it should be thinned with the hoes to leave the stalks not closer than eight 

 inches apart. 



The hand work can be greatly simplified by sowing the corn in check rows o/ hills. 

 This permits the cultivator being used both ways and enables the soil to be more thor- 

 ough/ stirred. This reduces the hand work to a minimum, and it can almost be dis- 

 pensed with, although this is not advisable. 



The most satisfactory method of harvesting is by means of the corn harvester 

 which cuts a row at a time and binds it in sheaves. Where several farmers in a dis- 

 trict are growing corn it is well worth while getting one of these machines on a part- 

 nership basis. If only a few acres are to be harvested the sickle may be used, as the 

 ordinary grain binder is far from satisfactory, except in a very light crop. 



Corn may be used for feed, either as a soiling crop, as dry fodder, or as ensilage. 

 As a soiling crop it is of little use before the middle of August, as it is too immature. 

 After this date it may to advantage be cut and fed twice a day to milking cows to 

 supplement pastures that are usually bare at that season. Cows relish it fed in this 

 way, and it may be depended on to augment the milk flow at a time when pasture is 

 scarce. 



At present it is as dry fodder for winter feed that corn is most generally used, 

 and this will continue to be the case for some years. When grown for this purpose 

 the corn should be stooked at cutting time. From ten to twenty sheaves should be 

 put in a stook which should be tied securely near the top with binder twine to prevent 

 its blowing over. After the corn is thoroughly cured it may be drawn to the barn if 

 room is available, and stored. It heats readily if too great a bulk is put together so 

 that it should be stood in rows not deeper than two feet. Occasionally it is built into 

 a mow or stack in alternate layers with straw. The layers of straw should be about 

 two feet thick to absorb moisture and prevent the corn moulding. When stored in this 

 way the corn imparts some of its flavour to the straw and renders it more palatable to 

 s1 ock. 



It is quite a common practice to draw the corn from the field as it is required dur- 

 ing the winter. The principal objection to this method is that deep snow sometimes 

 nterferes and there is a considerable loss of fodder in handling. 



The dry corn fodder may be fed whole to cattle or horses, but there is usually con- 

 -iderable loss of the coarse stalks when it is fed in this way. A better way is to run 

 it through a cutting box and feed it mixed with cut straw. The mixing may be in fact 

 done to advantage by cutting straw and corn alternately. The mixture will heat less 

 readily than the pure corn, and the cutting may be done once a week or less frequently 

 is required. 



SILOS. 



The ideal way to handle corn is by means of the silo. There a^-e few of these in 

 use in Manitoba at present, but as corn is grown more extensively, and a greater inter- 

 est taken in keeping stock supplied with succulent nourishing food through the winter, 

 they will rapidly come into general use. 



When cut for the silo the corn should be in the firm dough stage — usually in Mani- 

 toba it should be as nearly ripe as it can be secured. If very succulent when cut, it 

 should be allowed to wilt for two or three days in the field before cutting into the silo. 

 but if fairly well matured it can go without delay. For filling silos there are two types 

 of machines, the chain elevator cutting box and tbe blower, either of which can be used 

 to cut and elevate the corn thirty feet high or more. When there is a powerful engine 



