Indian Corn, or Maize 



119 



stover are to be fed, is usually cut when the husks are dry and 

 about a third of the leaves are still green. This gives the best 

 yield of both ears and st6ver. Before this stage the corn is 

 too immature and if cut too late many of the leaves will drop off ; 

 consequently the feeding value of the stover is much lessened. 

 When only the ears 

 are desired, the cut- 

 ting may be delayed 

 until the stalks are 

 mature. A machine 

 known as a husker 

 and shredder is often 

 employed to remove 

 the ears from the 

 cut stalks and to 

 shred the fodder 

 into small pieces. 

 This shredded fod- 

 der is easily stored 

 and is good feed, 

 especially for cattle. 

 Fodder-pulling is 

 a method employed 

 in some parts of the 

 South for securing 

 forage from the corn 

 plant. Handfuls of 



I 



FIG. 43. Filling the silo. 



leaves are pulled from the standing stalks, tied together, and 

 hung on the stripped stalks to cure. Topping of corn is another 

 method used in the South. This consists in removing the top 

 of the stalk above the ear and placing these in shocks to cure 

 for fodder. In either method the ears are later removed for 

 grain. Experiments have shown that these practices result 

 in a loss of grain ; consequently they are not advisable unless 

 the fodder is of sufficient value to offset the loss of grain. 



