33 



rolls or else, without 1)ein<i: husked, carried by an elevator and deliv- 

 ered into a \va«i;on which is driven alongside the machine. 



Another form of motlern practical corn picker has the guide chains 

 with the usual prongs for straightening up the stalks. The chains 

 form a stalk passage extending rearward thru the machine. A rap- 

 idly nu)ving chain provided with fingers is located at one side and 

 between the guide chains in sucli a position that as the machine passes 

 over the row the fingers engage the ears on the stalks and snap them 

 off. By means of a deflector the ears are directed to a receptacle 

 from which they are carried to the husking rollers and thence to the 

 wagon. The tops of the cornstalks are cut olf, and by means of a 

 conveyor this and other trash is carried to the rear and dropt on the 

 ground. This machine is shown in Plate III. 



OBJECTIONS AND ADVANTAGES. 



The corn picker is intended to remove the ears from the stalks, 

 wliich are left in the field. Most of the machines are built on the 

 assumption that the stalks are valueless, and therefore they are prac- 

 tically destroyed. It has not been possible to construct a picker 

 that will not to some extent break down or tear down the stalks. 

 This is somewhat objectionable because, where the corn is picked by 

 .hand, the dried corn leaves and stalks serve as roughage for cattle 

 during the fall and winter. The machine has, however, this advan- 

 tage, that the field can be picked quicker and the cattle turned in 

 earlier to make use of the roughage before the snow falls. 



Another objectionable feature of the corn picker as compared with 

 the hand method of picking corn is that it shells considerable corn; 

 and, if the corn is lodged and tangled, more or less ears are mist by 

 the machine. Tlie corn picker with the husker attachment requires 

 considerable motive power, at least four horses being required to pull 

 it. For this reason some manufacturers have dispensed with the 

 husking attachment and depend upon the snapping rollers for 

 removing most of the husks. Machines of this kind will remove from 

 25 to 75 per cent of the husks, depending upon the stage of maturity 

 of the corn, the brittleness of the stalks, and the effects of freezing and 

 damp weather. Wliere machines without the husker attachment are 

 used, a stationary husker may be provided at the crib, in which the 

 corn is husked and elevated into the corncrib. 



There is a variance of opinion among the farmers as to the advisa- 

 bility of husking the ears clean. In the South the common practise 

 is to leave the husks on the ears, and it is claimed that this practise 

 tends to prevent injury by insects. In the North it is the common 

 practise to husk the ears clean before they are cribbed. 



The objections ofi^ered, in reply to inquiries, to using a corn picker 

 which leaves the husks on the ears are that more crib room is required 



