380 



The effects of topping corn plants are variable. Results 

 at the Arkansas Experiment Station, (Bulletin 24) showed a 

 reduction in grain where the entire stalks were cut at a time 

 when the bottom leaves of the plant were dying, and the 

 kernels, nearly past the milk stage, were denting; the loss 

 from cutting and curing the stalks before pulling the ears 

 was nearly 3 bushels per acre. 



Summarizing the results of experiments in topping we 

 find that four* experiments show a loss of grain as a result 

 of topping and that in three-j- others topping did not diminish 

 the yield of grain. 



It is apparent that topping, if postponed rather later than 

 the usual time for pulling fodder, may be practiced without 

 reducing the yield of grain. 



If sufficient hay is not available and either topping or fod- 

 der pulling must be resorted to, topping is probably preferable. 

 For though blades form a more palateable forage, topping 

 has the advantage of requiring less labor, of affording a 

 somewhat larger yield of forage per acre, and being less in- 

 jurious to the crop of grain. 



That stripping reduces the yield of grain more than does 

 topping has been demonstrated in several experiments. 



In an experiment in Texas the labor of pulling and storing 

 a ton of "fodder" was three times as much as in harvesting 

 a ton of tops. 



Not only does fodder pulling require a large amount of 

 labor, which could be m^re effectively employed in making 

 hay, but its more serious disadvantage is that it almost invar- 

 iable reduces the yield of grain. Summarizing the results 



* Arkansas Bulletin 24; Alabama (Col.) Bulletin 75; Kansas Re- 

 port '88, p. 27 ; and Mississippi Report '90, p. 20. 



tAlabama (Canebrake) Bulletin 10; Illinois Bulletin 20; and Texas 

 Bulletin 19. 



