58 WALL'S MANTJA L 



.Harvesting the Crop. There arc various rncthoxls 

 pursued in harvesting corn. For securing the fodder 

 there arc two methods extensively employed, both of 

 which are so familiar to every one living in a corn- 

 growing country that a brief notice of each, with its: 

 advantages and disadvantages, .will be all that is 

 necessary. 



Bidding and Topping are performed where the 

 securing of the fodder within the smallest compass r 

 and in the most portable form, is desired. The blades 

 below the car, with the first one above, are stripped 

 off with the hands and placed between the stalks 

 standing close together, until they are sufficiently 

 cured to be tied up in small bundles and secured in a 

 stack or under a shelter. The blades are in order for 

 being tied, or in any way handled only in the morning 

 or evening, and on cloudy days. If handled in dry 

 weather, especially if it is windy, there is always 

 considerable loss from their breaking into fragments, 



Topping consists in cutting off that portion of the 

 stalk above the ear. The tops thus cut are allowed to 

 lie in small heaps until partially cured ; they are then 

 tied in bundles, or put together in the form of shocks, 

 in which condition they stand until perfectly cured. 

 The next step is to secure them against the weather, 

 by stacking or putting them under shelter. Both 

 blades and tops, when secured without much exposure 

 to rain, are about equal in value to the same weight 

 of good hay. But to secure the full forage value of 

 tops they must be cut into small fragments, so that 

 the animal to which they are fed may be able to 

 masticate them easily. 



When corn tops are finely cut, and mixed with a 



