26 



The averaoje results, taken from the several hundred replies received 

 to tliis letter of inquiry, indicate that for all conditions of corn, the 

 average number of acres of corn cut per day with a corn binder using 

 three horses, is 7.73 acres. The average number of acres which one 

 man can shock per day after a corn binder is 3.31 acres. The average 

 number of pounds of tw^ine used per acre of corn cut is 2.44. The 

 average life in years of corn binders is 8.17, and in acres of corn cut, 

 668.77. The average first cost of corn binders is $125. The average 

 cost of macliine per acre cut, wliich includes price of machine, repairs, 

 and interest on the investment, is 29 cents per acre; the cost of driver 

 and team per acre cut is 46 cents, or $3.55 per day; the cost of twine 

 is 30.5 cents per acre. The cost of shocking the corn after a corn 

 binder is 44.8 cents per acre. This gives the total cost per acre of 

 harvesting corn with a corn binder, $1.50. 



The cost of cutting corn with the corn harvester and binder is, 

 therefore, the same as the cost for cutting corn by hand, and 32 cents 

 per acre higher than the cost of cutting with a sled harvester. This 

 extra cost of cutting with the corn binder over the cost of cutting 

 w^th a sled harvester may be attributed to the cost of the twine and 

 the interest on the investment in the higher first cost of the corn 

 binder. The corn binder has, however, proved a useful implement, 

 the advantage over the other methods mentioned being the amount 

 of work which can be accomplished per day and the general ease 

 with which the work can be done. 



One disadvantage which may be credited to the corn binder is that 

 it knocks off more or less ears of corn, which either have to be picked 

 up by hand, at a cost of about 10 cents per acre, or left to waste or to 

 be found by the cattle after the field is cleared. 



Farmers who have not sufficient corn to cut to make it profitable 

 to purchase machines sometimes hire the work done at a rate of 75 

 cents to $1 per acre for the use of the machine, the driver, and the 

 team. The average cost of cutting given above was 29 cents per acre 

 for the use of the machine, and 46 cents per acre for the driver and 

 team, or 75 cents per acre. The charge for hiring the work done is 

 only slightly above this. 



THE CORN SHOCKER. 



It is a curious fact that altho earlier efforts were centered upon 

 the construction of the corn shocker, the perfection of this machine 

 was delayed until after the introduction of the corn binder. In the 

 first machines the inventor attempted to engage the stalks by extend- 

 ing rods or springs in advance of the cutting knives, but this did not 

 prove as successful as did the dividers of the corn binder. With these 

 the corn could readily be brought to an erect position and thus made 

 into a perfect shock. 



