CHAPTER X 

 CORN HARVESTING 



IN the Southern States the usual methods of harvesting 

 corn and corn forage are the following : 



(1) Pulling or jerking the ears, afterwards stripping the 

 blades ; 



(2) Pulling the ears, leaving the blades to be grazed by 

 live-stock ; 



(3) Pulling the ears, and cutting the tops for forage ; 



(4) Cutting and shocking the stalks with ears and leaves. 



175. Pulling the ears. The first three methods of 

 harvesting require the pulling of the ears from the standing 

 plant, after they are thoroughly mature. It is customary 

 in the cotton-belt to pull the ears with the greater part of 

 the shuck attached. Here corn is usually placed in the 

 crib without being shucked or husked. However, in some 

 communities, the unshucked corn is thrown under a shel- 

 ter adjoining the crib, and when other work permits, it 

 is husked and thrown into the crib. 



176. Handling the ears. In the South, the most 

 usual method is for each laborer to pull two rows of corn 

 as he advances across the field, and to throw the ears into 

 flattish heaps or piles on every sixth or eighth row; the 

 ears are picked up later and thrown into a wagon driven 

 between two heap rows. This is a laborious method. 



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