7 



SIMPLE METHODS OF HARVESTING CORN. 

 TOPPING. 



As a stock food, bolli the ears and the stalk of tlie corn ])hint liave 

 been used from the earhest times. The Aztees and the Peruvian 

 Indian tribes jiractised toj)])ing corn for this pur})()se at the time they 

 were conquered by the Spaniards. This method of securintj fodder 

 was followed by the early colonists and continued to be the common 

 method until late in the nineteenth century. Tt is largely followed 

 in Italy, and is still practised in many parts of the South. 



Before topping corn it is necessary to allow the ears to pass the 

 silking period in order to secure fertilization. If done before this the 

 grain fails to develop. Soon after fertilization has been accom- 

 plished the silk rapidly turns brown, and when the kernels have past 

 the milky state the corn ]:)lant is ready to top. 



The toppmg was formerly done by a man who, with a sharp knife, 

 past along the row of corn and cut off the top just above the ear, and 

 also strij)t the leaves from that part of the stalk left standing in the 

 field. The parts cut off were laid in small piles to dry and were 

 afterwards tied into bundles. The bundles were set up in little shocks 

 and left until the fodder was sufficiently cured, when they were 

 hauled away and stacked near the feeding place. This feed was con- 

 sidered very valuable and was used for feeding the horses and oxen 

 in the spring before the grass came, when the work- animals had the 

 hardest labor of the year to perform. 



In regard to the advisability of topjiing corn, the Pennsylvania 

 Station" found that, by topping, 1,050 pounds of fodder was obtained, 

 at a loss of 540 pounds of ear corn, as compared with allowing the 

 corn to ri])en and mereh^ gathering the ears. The Mississippi Station,^ 

 as a result of a three years' trial, found the net loss in feeding value 

 more than 20 per cent. Seven other stations show an average loss 

 which was ''more than the feeding value of the fodder secured." 



At the Arkansas Station ^ neither topping nor pulling reduced the 

 jaeld so much as cutting and shocking the whole plant when the ears 

 were just past the roasting-ear stage, as shown in the following table: 



Effect of method of harvesting corn on the yield of grain. 



Method of treatment. 



Left standing till ripe. . 



Topt above ear 



Leaves stript 



Stalks cut and shocked . 



Loss per 

 acre. 



17 

 139 

 16C 



a Pennsylvania Sta. Rpt. 1891, pp. 55-60. <■ Arkansas St.i. Bui. 24, p. 120. 



6 Mississippi Sta. Rul. .S.3. p. 04. . 



