6 



yield of the corn crop was 2,708,000,000 bushels and the value 

 $1,116,700,000. 



There may be, moreoyer, a double haryest from every field of corn — 

 that of the <:;rain and that of the fodder. There are thousands of 

 farmers in the United States who in the last few years liave doubled 

 the profit they used to make on their corn crop, by harvesting the 

 whole ]:)lant — stalks, leaves, and all — yet there are tens of thousands 

 of other farmers who still "snap " or husk their corn in the field, letting 

 the stalks and blades go largely to waste. It has been demonstrated 

 beyond a doubt that when properly harvested corn fodder is as 

 nutritious as good hay. The farmer who would receive tlie full value 

 of his crop should secure this fodder with as much care as he gives his 

 hay, taking care that it is harvested at the proper period, and not 

 allowed to have the nutrients it contams leached out by rains or 

 injured by frost. 



The composition of the dry matter of the fodder corn varies greatly 

 with the season. The yield of food material increases with the 

 advancing age of the corn, the largest amount being obtained when 

 the corn is well ripened. Feeding experiments have been conducted 

 with corn fodder by which it has been determined that at least ^ 

 per cent of the food value of the corn plant is in the stalk, and that 

 the stalk can be cut at the time the ear is dented without material 

 loss to the kernel. A mine of wealth is thus opened to those farmers 

 who'are in position to make use of this fodder. 



For years we have had machines which successfully harvest, thrash, 

 and clean the small grains, so that every ])art of the plants may serve 

 some useful purpose. The machinery for the care of the corn crop 

 has been much more difficult to develop than any other line of farm 

 implements. Altho there has been considerable progress in the har- 

 vesting of corn, no such profound changes have been made as tliose 

 in the harvesting of small grain. The larger part of the crop is still 

 husked by hand from the standing plant, and the crop is but partially 

 utilized. In large sections of the country only the ears are gathered, 

 while the leaves and stalks are almost a total loss. 



After the success of mowing and reaping machines, inventors tried 

 to develop a corn harvester along the lines followed in the construc- 

 tion of those machines. The old methods of harvesting corn fodder 

 were slow, expensive, and laborious, and the manufacturers have long 

 sought to solve the problem. Their success is not as yet complete, 

 but the labor-saving devices so far perfected have largely changed 

 conditions. The corn may now be cut, husked, and shredded with 

 less labor than the cutting alone formerly required. 



