422 FIELD AND GARDEN PRODUCTS 



corn exclusively for forage. Even when grown for the purpose of 

 filling a silo, the feeding value of the crop is very greatly increased 

 by the amount of grain put in the silo. If hay or forage alone is 

 desired, independent of grain, it can usually be more satisfactorily 

 produced by growing alfalfa, clover, cowpeas, or sorghum than by 

 growing corn. In addition to having a higher feeding value than 

 corn stover, alfalfa, clover, or cowpeas will enrich the soil on which 

 they are grown. The removal year after year of crops of corn or 

 sorghum will rapidly impoverish a soil unless an equivalent amount 

 of humus and fertility is returned to it. 



Stripping the Blades. In some sections, especially in the 

 Southern States, the practice of stripping the blades by hand from 

 the standing stalks has for years been one of the established opera- 

 tions in connection with harvesting the corn crop. There is no 

 question that the blades when thus gathered and well stored furnish 

 an excellent forage, but there are cheaper methods of obtaining 

 forage of as good or better quality. 



Topping. It is still quite a common practice in some localities 

 to top the stalks by cutting them just above the ear. By this 

 method the portion of the stalk which is eaten by stock most readily 

 and with least waste is obtained. When the grain crop is late in 

 maturing or wet fall weather prevents the proper drying of the 

 ripening ears, the topping of the corn may be found advisable. If 

 the ears have become hard, the kernels dented, and the husks partly 

 dry before the topping is performed, no reduction in yield will re- 

 sult. A heavy growth of cowpeas may make the cutting of the en- 

 tire plant impracticable and warrant the topping of the crop. If 

 the corn is desired for seed, topping will facilitate the drying of the 

 ears and thus make it possible to select the seed before it is injured 

 by freezing. Ordinarily, however, it is found more expensive to top 

 a corn crop than to cut and shock the entire plant. 



CUTTING AND SHOCKING. 



Over large areas in the principal corn-growing States corn is 

 grown primarily for the grain, and each farmer decides for himself 

 how much of trie crop will be cut. This is usually determined by 

 cutting just enough to feed the animals maintained on the farm. 

 The chief objection to this method is that many farmers do not 

 maintain enough animals to consume all of the corn stover pro- 

 duced. If the ears are gathered from the standing stalks and no use 

 is made of the stover, fully one-third of the crop is wasted. The 

 term "fodder" is applied to the entire plants as ordinarily cut and 

 shocked, while the term " stover " is applied to the portion remain- 

 ing after the ears have been pulled or husked. 



Generally speaking there is little difference in cost between husk- 

 ing and cribbing corn from the shock and husking and cribbing it 

 from the standing stalk. In some sections men will husk from 

 standing stalks at a lower price than from shocks, but the cost of 

 teams, although they are not usually very busy with other work 

 during corn-husking season, must be taken into consideration. Con- 

 sidering the expense of husking from the standing stalk and from 



