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DEVOTED TO IGRICULTURE AND ALL ITS KINDRED ARTS AND SCIENCES, 



Agriculture not only gives riches to a nation, but the only riches she can call her own. — Johnson. 



VOL. II. 



SATURDAY, AUGUST 31, 1850. 



^0. 18, 



S. W. COLE, Editor. 



QUINCY HALL, BOSTON. 



J. NOURSE, Proprietor. 



HARVESTING CORN. 



A GREAT deal is said about the different moaes of 

 harvesting corn. The old method is to cut the 

 stalks, when the corn is nearly ripe, in order to let 

 in the sun to ripen the corn. Some modem fanners 

 have improved upon this method, as many believe, 

 by cutting the plants up at the ground -when the 

 gTain is nearly ripe, and putting it mto stooks ; and 

 when it is well dried, the whole is carried into the 

 bam and husked. 



We are in favor of the latter mode, and the fol- 

 lowing are a few of the reasons for our preference. 

 In the first place, we would premise that the whole 

 plant, the top as well as root, is necessary to the per- 

 fection of the grain, and when the corn is so ripe 

 that the plant may be mutUated so far as to cut off 

 the top without injury, the root may be cut off with- 

 out injury. 



We will now thow the advantages of the ncAv mode. 

 By cutting up at the ground, or cutting off the root, 

 there is far less labor than in cutting the stalks. 

 One blow of the knife will cut up a hill, but in cut- 

 ting stalks there must be as many operations to a 

 hill as it contains stalks. Pieces of com, of about 

 fifty bushels to the acre, and thickly planted, so that 

 there were five or six thousand liills to the acre, have 

 been cut up at the ground at fifty cents per acre, or 

 by a half day's labor. This would require diligent 

 labor, we acknowledge. About the same labor is re- 

 quu-ed to tic up, carry together, and stook. Now, 

 we would ask, who can in one day, with moderate 

 labor, cut, bind up, and stook the top stalks on an 

 acre, and in due time gather the corn, and cut up 

 the but stalks, and forward the harvesting so that 

 the whole can be gathered in as quickly as the com 

 can be hauled in when all is cut up together ? We 

 claim a great advantage for the modern mode in point 

 of economy in labor. There is no loss of grain by 

 cutting up at the groupd, and there is a great saving 

 in the but stalks, which become much injured by 

 storms, sun, and wind, and other wear and tear. 



Besides the usual advantages of cutting up corn, 

 there is a great advantage in this mode of harvesting, 

 in saving it from frost, when it ripens late. Corn 



that is only full in the milk, may be cut up when a 

 frost seems to be at hand, and it will make good, 

 sweet bread, though rather light ; while, if struck 

 with frost at so early a stage, it is not fit for man or 

 beast. It is not worth harvesting, for even the pigs 

 will refuse it. 



If corn be cut up on the eve of a frost, it will not 

 be injured while lying in heaps on the ground. We 

 have saved corn from a frost by cutting it up by 

 moonlight, when the state of the weather indicate'! 

 a hard frost. 



We now give the mode of securing corn, as prac- 

 tised by Mr. W. Salisburj', of Medtiold, and trust 

 that it will be useful to many of our readers. He 

 cuts his corn when the grain is glazed. Provide a 

 good firm stake, and bore two holes at a suitable 

 height, as you can judge from experience. These 

 holes should cross each other, and one should be 

 just above the other. Into these holes put small 

 iron rods ; wooden rods will answer by having them 

 larger. The rods wiU form a cross, thus, -\-. 



Stick down this stake, then take the corn, about 

 twenty-five hills, without binding into bundles, and 

 place it equally around the stake, between the arms 

 or rods extending from it. Equally balanced and 

 properly adjusted, it will stand, llemove the stake, 

 and hug close around the stook, to press the whole 

 gently together ; bend over the tops and tie them 

 down, and it is done. 



One stake will answer for the whole jiiecc. There 

 will be no bundles mouldering under the bands, but 

 the whole will be exposed to the air, and become 

 well cured. These stooks will generally stand the 

 wind and the storms; if well done it seldom falls. 

 The fodder Avill be fine, and the grain excellent. 



Some object to cutting up stout corn ; but Mr. S. 

 remarks that he secured a piece in this way li^st Sep- 

 tember, that produced, on a little less than an acre 

 and a half, one hundred and ninety-two baskets of 

 ears, which would make half a bushel or more to 

 each basket. He hauls in his corn loose, laying the 

 stooks all together into the cart, and sets it up loose 

 in the barn, and finds it more convenient to husk 

 than buts. 



Mr. S. saves his fodder by cutting uj) the stalks, 



