428 FIELD AXD GARDEN PRODUCTS 



good quality. The proportion of husk varies greatly among the 

 different kinds of corn, but it is sufficient to say that it requires fully 

 one-half more room to store the ears unhusked than husked. 



Hulking. In sections where the farms range in area from 80 

 to 160 acres and diversified fanning is followed so that all of the 

 stover is fed, husking from the shock is a common method of har- 

 vesting the ears. 



The mistake is sometimes made of husking shocked corn for 

 animals which have plenty of time and would enjoy husking it for 

 themselves. This is true of animals carried through the winter that 

 need no more grain than is found on the quantity of fodder they 

 will eat without waste. This method of feeding can not be followed 

 with animals on full feed, as they would waste the larger quantity 

 of stover in their endeavors to get a full feed of grain and would 

 not obtain as much grain as fattening cattle should eat. 



In husking from standing stalks it is customary to have on 

 one side of the wagon a very high throw-board, against which the 

 ears can be tossed and caused to drop into the wagon without the 

 necessity of the busker looking up to see whether the ear has been 

 thrown over the wagon ; the noise made by the ear when it strikes 

 against the throw-board is sufficient. 



"Lands" are laid out and driven around in husking by this 

 method so that the husker is always on the same side of the wagon 

 and there are no down rows to husk except one for each new land 

 started. 



Most successful farmers during corn-harvesting time have each 

 load of corn that comes from the various fields passed over the 

 wagon scales and a record made, so that at the end of the harvest 

 the yield of each field and the quantity of grain stored will -be 

 known. 



Use of Corn-Picking Machines. The corn picker is intended 

 to remove the ears from the stalks, which are left in the field. Most 

 of the machines are built on the assumption that the stalks are 

 valueless, and therefore they are practically destroyed. It has not 

 been possible to construct a picker that will not to some extent 

 break down or tear down the stalks. This is somewhat objection- 

 able because, where the corn is picked by hand, the dried corn 

 leaves and stalks serve as roughage for cattle during the fall and 

 winter. The machine has, however, this advantage, that the field 

 can be picked quicker and the cattle turned in earlier to make use 

 of the roughage before the snow falls. 



Another objectionable feature of the corn picker as compared 

 with the hand method of picking corn is that it shells considerable 

 corn ; and, if the corn is lodged and tangled, more or less ears are 

 missed by the machine. The corn picker with the husker attach- 

 ment requires considerable motive power, at least four horses being 

 required to pull it. For this reason some manufacturers have dis- 

 pensed with the husking attachment and depend upon the snapping 

 rollers for removing most of the husks. Machines of this kind will 

 remove from 25 to 75 per cent of the husks, depending upon the stage 



