FIELD CROPS 429 



of maturity of the corn, the brittleness of the stalks, and the effects 

 of freezing and damp weather. Where machines without the busker 

 attachment are used a stationary busker may be provided at the crib, 

 in which the corn is husked and elevated into the corncrib. For ex- 

 tensive use in large fields that contain few gullies or obstacles corn 

 pickers and buskers can be successfully employed and the crop more 

 quickly harvested, but for the general farmer who with the aid of his 

 regular farm help can husk by hand during the early winter what 

 corn has not been cut for stover these machines are not profitable in- 

 vestments in their present state. 



Use of Huskers and Shredders. The use of shredding machines 

 is becoming quite general in many corn-growing sections. Sometimes 

 the machines are used for shredding the stover after the ears have 

 been husked from the shocks by hand and in other cases both the 

 husking and shredding are done by the machine. The shredding of 

 the stover puts it in a more compact form for storing and a more con- 

 venient form for feeding and avoids the troublesome work of han- 

 dling manure in which mere are long coarse c&rn stalks. Shredded 

 stover is fed with much less waste than stover in any other condition. 

 It has been estimated that shredded stover will go 40 per cent farther 

 in feeding cattle than the whole stalks and considerably farther 

 than when the stalks are put through a feed cutter. 



Storing the Stover. Whether the stover is shredded or not, it is 

 of great importance that it be well stored and not left long exposed 

 to tne weather. The mistake is sometimes made of placing the hay 

 crop in sheds and barns and leaving the corn stover in shocks in the 

 field. The reverse is better, inasmuch as most kinds of hay will not 

 depreciate so rapidly in feeding value and will keep better in stacks 

 and ricks than corn stover. Unless placed under cover corn stover 

 should be fed in the fall and early winter. If left exposed until 

 February or March it has little feeding value. There is considerable 

 labor connected with the hauling and storing of corn stover and racks 

 and wagons should be arranged to avoid any unnecessary labor. 



In the principal corn-producing States the autumns are usually 

 dry, and corn fodder dries thoroughly in the shocks and is shredded 

 and stored in barns or feed sheds with little danger of heating or 

 molding. The fodder should not be wet when shredded and stored, 

 but damp days are preferable for doing the hauling and shredding 

 because the blades are more pliable and the fodder is therefore han- 

 dled with less waste. But in some sections, especially in northern 

 States, where the corn is full of sap when cut and where damp fall 

 weather prevails, much care is necessary in storing corn fodder or 

 stover to prevent heating and molding. In such localities it should be 

 placed under cover in ricks not more than 6 or 8 feet in thickness, or, 

 if shredded, layers of dry straw several inches deep should alternate 

 with layers of the shredded stover. The depth of the layers of stover 

 can vary from several inches to a foot or more, according to its dry- 

 ness when stored. The dry straw will take up some of the moisture 

 from the stover and prevent heating. 



Storing the Ears. There was a time in the history of the corn- 



