304 II ANDY-BOOK OF HUSBANDRY. 



mustard jar, or a broad-mouthed bottle, with a tin cover pierced 

 with large holes. The jar should not be more than half full, and 

 a little practice will soon indicate the extent to which the holes 

 should be covered by the fingers as the seed is flirted out in walk- 

 ing across the field. 



The turnip seed, — or enough of it, — will be planted by the first 

 rain, and the plants will be well established by the time the corn 

 is cut up, after which they will make fair-sized roots. The 

 Strap Leaf Red Top is the best American variety for this use. 



Whether it is wise to raise this stolen crop of turnips depends 

 on the circumstances of the case. They will, if properly man- 

 aged (properly planted, that is), yield an abundant supply of valu- 

 able food for the early winter, but they are so hard upon the land 

 that they will probably cost all they will be worth. If roots can 

 be as well grown on ground of their own, the corn-field should 

 not be charged with their production, — for they will inevitably use 

 up manure that should remain for the second crop of the rotation. 



Harvesting. — Corn should never be " topped." The little that 

 will be gained in fodder, will be more than lost in the grain, which 

 in its maturing assimilates some of the contents of the juices of the 

 whole plant, — above as well as below. 



As soon as the kernels are glazed, — as soon as the thumb nail 

 cannot be easily pressed through its skin, — the stalks should be 

 cut up near the ground, and bound in " stooks " to cure. The 

 earlier it is so cut the better will be the fodder, and after the 

 glazing is complete the grain will mature as rapidly and as per- 

 fectly on the severed stalk as though it was still in communication 

 with the root. 



Late in the fall the ears should be husked and stored in cribs 

 and the stalks tied in bundles for stacking. They will keep much 

 better if the stacks are thatched with rye straw — to exclude rain j 

 and in no case should the diameter of the stack be more than 

 twice the length of the bundles ; — that is, it should be built around 

 a pole, and each bundle should reach from this to the outside 

 of the stack. The tops should lie toward the center, and the 



