18 



portance. On this subject the opinions of farmers are at va- 

 riance. Some choose to top the stalks as soon as the corn is 

 glazed, and gather the corn after it has become fully ripened. 

 Others prefer leaving the whole until the grain is sufficiently 

 ripened to be cribbed, then gathering the corn, husking it as it 

 is gathered, and collecting the fodder afterwards. Others choose 

 as soon as the corn is glazed, or is so far advanced that an ear 

 fit for roasting is not to be found in the field, to cut the whole 

 up at the ground and shock it in the field for ripening. This 

 practice is almost universal in New York, but it prevails only 

 partially in Franklin co., where in general the first described 

 mode of harvesting is adopted. In many places the butt stalks 

 after the corn is gathered, are left in the field to be browsed by 

 cattle, a management which is wasteful, and has nothing to 

 recommend it. 



I shall take the liberty in this matter to detail my own expe- 

 rience, while a resident in this county. The leaving the corn 

 untopped until it is sufficiently advanced for gathering, and 

 then cutting it up at bottom, allowing it to finish the ripening 

 in the shock, has sometimes with me been attended with suc- 

 cess. In some cases, however, I have had by this management 

 so much mouldy and soft corn as to question its expe- 

 diency. But as I think I have discovered the causes of my 

 failure, this method now commends itself strongly to my judg- 

 ment. 



The summer of 1833 was so cold, that corn general- 

 ly was three weeks behind its usual condition ; and fears 

 were entertained that the crop would be entirely cut off. On 

 the 9th of September there was a slight, and on the 12th and 

 13th, there were severe frosts. Corn was generally in the 

 milk ; and, in many places, much was killed. The fogs on 

 the river near my residence served as a protection to my crop. 

 Under these threatening appearances, fearing through delay the 

 loss of my whole crop, I determined to cut up the whole at 

 the ground as soon as it should be slightly glazed ; and the 

 results and facts in relation to it, I took pains to record. 



