l86 THE BOOK OF CORN 



complished by picking the ears from the stalks in the fields, to 

 be husked afterward, and then to cart the stalks directly to 

 the storage room. Husking in the fields, with average hands, 

 is objectionable, and more or less of the fodder will be wasted." 



Old Methods Displaced — The old method called 

 "top stalking*," which was practiced by our forefathers 

 and the Indians, is but little followed to-day. Theo- 

 retically it consists of cutting off the sterile stalks at 

 the ground and the fertile ones smoothly at the junc- 

 tion of the ear, when the stalks and leaves are quite 

 green, and the grain just commencing to harden; but 

 practically it is the cutting off of the top stalks, with 

 one clean sweep at each hill, near the top of the highest 

 ears. The remainder of the stalks, with the ears, are 

 then allowed to stand in the field until they become dry, 

 sear and dead. Then the ears are husked on the hill, 

 or picked and stored in some building convenient to the 

 corn crib, and husked as opportunity offers. 



The fodder remaining in the field after taking off 

 the corn, is sometimes cut at the ground, and taken to 

 the barn for feeding the stock ; but generally the stock 

 are turned into the field in the bleak days of November 

 and December, to pick off some of the dry leaves and 

 husks, and to trample down the remainder preparatory 

 to plowing it into the soil. This method is too wasteful 

 for the practical farmer. More nutriment is contained 

 below the ear than above it, and practically all of this 

 is waste so far as its feeding value is concerned. The 

 hot sun dries instead of ripens the ears and neither the 

 quality nor the yield of corn is as good as where it is 

 allowed to ripen naturally. 



CORN GROWING UNDER IRRIGATION 



Aside from irrigation itself, the general features 

 of corn culture under irrigation do not differ materially 



