318 



THE AMERICAN FABMER 



EUREKA DOUBLE-BOW STALK-CUTTER. 



Kernels are well glazed. In sections where this danger does not exist, it may stand in the 



field until fully ripe, if desired. When the stalks and 

 leaves are desired for fodder, the crop should be har 

 vested as soon as the grain is fully ripe, as it will con 

 tain more nutriment, and the grain be just as valuable, 

 as when left standing in the field longer. 



Various methods are employed in harvesting corn. 

 The common custom in the Eastern States is to cut the 

 stalks near the roots, and bind them in bundles, setting 

 them up in stacks of from eight to ten bundles each, 

 where they remain until well dried. When well cured, 

 the bundles are taken to the barn, or husked in the 

 field; the stalks and leaves all being saved for fodder. 



It was formerly the custom among Western farmers, and is at present to a certain extent, 



of gathering the ears of corn 

 in the field and leaving the 

 stalks to be trampled by cat 

 tle, or to be plowed in. They 

 were also sometimes burned. 

 Sometimes the grain and 

 stalks were permitted to 

 stand in the field till required 

 for feeding cattle or other 

 stock, when they were fed in 

 an adjoining enclosure as 

 wanted. Many of the West 

 ern farmers are, however, 

 beginning to make use of the 



leaveg &nd stalks for 



MOLINE STALK-CUTTER. 



MOLINB STALK CUTTER. 



and realize its value for this purpose. It is better to 

 cut and plow them into the land than to burn them, 

 when not wanted for fodder, as when decomposed 

 they furnish something towards the nutriment of the 

 future crop. Small fields of corn in many sections 

 are still cut by hand, a good average day s work in 

 cutting and stacking from drills, being about half 

 an acre a day per man ; but where the grain is raised 

 extensively, a cornstalk-cutter is necessary. These 

 machines cut the stalks within a few inches of the 

 root, which can readily be plowed under. The 

 double-rowed cutters are said to cut from sixteen to 

 eighteen acres of corn in a day. The Urie and 

 Eureka stalk-cutters are manufactured by the Eureka 

 Manufacturing Company, Rock Falls, Illinois. The 

 latter has a roller attachment for cutting up the 

 stalks and getting them out of the way of the plow, 

 as is seen in the cut. 



The Advance Cultivator, manufactured by Deere, 

 Mansur & Co., St. Louis, Mo., has also a stalk-cutter, 

 which can be readily attached to that implement 



when desired, thus combining two machines in one. 



