FOR BETTER CROPS IJST THE SOUTH 13 



row, the last cultivation may be given with one of the one-horse 

 types. 



Harvesting the Corn Crop — The practices, so common in 

 the South, of stripping the blades from the corn plants for 

 "fodder, " or of cutting the tops just above the ear, are too waste- 

 ful of time and grain to warrant their use. These operations are 

 usually performed when a portion of the leaves have turned 

 yellow, and the grain is beginning to become hard and dented. 

 Carefully conducted experiments have demonstrated that when 

 the corn crop is thus handled, at least three bushels of grain 

 per acre are lost; besides, it is a slow operation. 



The most profitable way to harvest the corn crop is to cut and 

 shock the entire plant at the time the outer shucks have turned 

 a straw color, and the grains have become hard. This does not 

 reduce the yield of grain. When this method is followed, the 

 crop can be harvested with the corn harvester, in sections where 

 the land is comparatively level. This harvester cuts and binds 

 the corn in bundles ready for the shock. If the land is of such a 

 nature that the corn harvester cannot be used, a short-handled 

 hoe or corn knife proves satisfactory. 



Shredding Corn— A very profitable method of handling the 

 corn crop, after it has been shocked and allowed to dry out 

 thoroughly, is to shred it. The shredder is a machine that tears 

 the stalks to pieces and husks and removes the ears at the same 

 operation. In this condition the stalks are more profitably 

 utilized than when they are fed whole. The stock eat a larger 

 percentage of them., the stover is much more easily handled, and 

 the manure produced is free from long cornstalks and is in a good 

 mechanical condition. Another advantage' is that the crop is 

 gotten off of the land earlier, thus permitting the sowing of fall 

 and winter crops. 



Very often a number of farmers in a community will combine 

 and buy a shredder, as the operation is one that does not have to 

 be done at any particular time, thus enabling a farmer to wait 

 his turn without any loss. 



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