HARVESTING AND STOEING. 14:3 



fully ripened, after which they are husked on the 

 ground, and carried to the crib. Cattle are then 

 turned into the field to consume what remains of the 

 stover. This practice is inexcusably wasteful, and 

 those who adopt it can hardly expect to find their 

 corn crop a source of much profit. 



" The stalks of corn," says Mr. Allen, in the 

 American Farm Book, " ought never to be cut above 

 the ear, but always near the ground, and for this ob- 

 vious reason: the sap which nourishes the grain is 

 drawn from the earth, and passing through the stem, 

 enters the leaf, where a change is effected, analogous 

 to what takes place in the blood, when brought to the 

 surface of the lungs in the animal system ; but with 

 this peculiar difference, however, that while the blood 

 gives out carbon and absorbs oxygen, plants, under 

 the influence of light and heat, give out oxygen and 

 absorb carbon. This change prepares the sap for 

 condensation and conversion into the grain. But the 

 leaves which thus digest the food for the grain are 

 above it, and it is while passing downward that the 

 change of the sap into grain principally takes place. 

 If the stalks be cut above the ear, nourishment is at 

 an end. It may then become firm and dry, but it 

 will not increase in quantity, while if cut near the 

 root, it not only appropriates the sap already in the 

 plant, but it also absorbs additional matter from the 

 atmosphere, which contributes to its weight and per- 

 fection." 



Many experiments have been made on this subject, 

 all tending to the same result, and showing that there 



