266 



THE GENESEE FARMER. 



crumble down in fine particles when harrowed in 

 the sprinp, — yielding a mellow seed-bed and facili- 

 tating the business of planting and tlie first hoeing, 

 and the manure applied can be readily and nicely 

 mingled witli the kindly soil. Corn jjlanted on sod 

 furrows turned the fall previous, will not be so 

 liable to injury from tlie copperheads or cut-worms 

 wiiich eat otf the young stalk at the surface of the 

 ground, as though tiie land had been jdowed in 

 spring. So great heretofore have been the depre- 

 dations of tliese worms on my young corn, when 

 planted on the sandy intervales which were broken 

 Vj) from grass in the spring, that now the meadow 

 land wliicli is to be made ready for a corn crop, is 

 invariably plowed late in the fall. By means of 

 this precaution the ravages of tiie worms liave been 

 pretty much prevented, but few hills of corn being 

 entirely destroyed, — indeed, in passing through 

 seven acres of corn to day, vacant hills were not 

 discovered, though looked for, and I think there 

 can not be enough loss of crop from this cause to 

 be of much account." 



. — — . — — - — -^^« fc 



HniTS ON HAKVESTING CORN. 



Owing to the deficiency of meadows or artificial 

 grasses, it has long been the practice in the South- 

 ern States to strip off the green leaves of Indian 

 corn and cure thera for fodder. The leaves below 

 the ear are first removed, and immediately after- 

 ward the stalks above the ears are cut, and, together 

 with the lower leaves, are cured and stacked. 



This time-honored practice is now condemned by 

 the ablest writers in the South. Numerous exper- 

 iments have been made, and show a loss of grain 

 from the operation. Dr. Thomas Maesie, of Nel- 

 son, Va., found that 8 rows ot corn, extending 

 through a field, left without removing the fodder, 

 produced I7i barrels of measured ears; while 

 alongside of this strip, 8 rows (4 on each side,) 

 stripped and topped as usual, gave only 16 barrels 

 — a difference of nearly 12 per cent. ^Y. S. Fon- 

 taine, of Virginia, found that the practice entailed 

 a loss of 6 bushels per acre. Edmund Ruffin, of 

 Virginia, one of the earliest and ablest of Ameri- 

 can agricultural writers, strongly condemns the 

 practice. In an able essay on the subject he well 

 says: 



"So long as the leaves of corn are green and 

 succulent, and have not begun to fade, and whether 

 below or above the ears, tliey still continue to fur- 

 nish nourishment to the grain, and are necessary 

 to its perfect filling. ****** 



"A^ the ordinary mode of taking off all tlie 

 leaves kills the corn plant immediately, of course 

 the stalk might be cut off at the same time, with 

 no more injury to the filling of the grain. iJut 

 both processes would be injurious. Tlierefore, the 

 cutting down should be delayed until the leaves 

 generally have cea-sed, or are about ceasing, to sup- 

 ply nourishment to the plani. This safe time may 

 be known by the first appearing of either of two 

 indications. One is, when all, or nearly all, of the 



leaves below the ear have lost, or are fast losir 

 their green color, and are mostly yellow, or dr 

 Or even if the lower leaves remain mostly green,' 

 is safe to cut down the stalks, if the shuck whic 

 encloses the ear is beginning to turn yellowis 

 which is a safe indication of ripeness." 



Stripping off the lower leaves is not practiced 

 the North, but the allied practice of topping h 

 still a few advocates. The arguments against t! 

 one hold good against the other. H. Stratto 

 of Winfield, Mass., says : " In this town both wa 

 have been thoroughly tested, and the prevaili 

 opinion now is that cut up corn is not only t 

 safest^ but that the yield is from five to ten busb 

 per acre more than when topped." A Vermc 

 farmer gives it as his opinion, that in topping 

 heavy crop of corn there is a loss, in the exi 

 labor, and in the loss of fodder and grain, amoui 

 ing to from five to ten dollars per acre. 



tjai 



Albert Todd, of Rhode Island, says: "It I 

 been ray practice, for several years past, to cut 

 and stock my corn in the field as soon as it bccon 

 thoroughly glazed. The first year that I co 

 menced cutting up my corn, I only cut up part 

 my field ; the remainder, 1 topped the stalks al 

 the old-fashioned way. I tried this new metl 

 merely for an experiment, as I had very little fa 

 in it; and on harvesting, I found that the corn 

 up at the roots was not only fit for harvest 

 earlier, but the corn was equally as sound, and 

 smaller ears were sounder. I did not find near 

 much "hog corn." Tiiis is generally the case 

 cutting up corn at the roots*; small ears but jus' 

 milk will mature better than those left stand 

 after the top stalks are cut. If stalks are t£ 

 i from the ears before the corn is tolerably glaj 

 sound corn need not be expected; whereas c 

 cut up at the bottom, in the same condition, • 

 generally become hard." * 



In this section corn is rarely topped. It is 

 up close to the ground, and either tied up in bun* 

 or placed loosely in largo shocks. In the fon 

 case, two rows are taken, and about six hills pla ., , 

 together on the ground to be tied up by the bin j 

 following. From five to eight of these bundles! | ' 

 placed in a stock, and bound round with on} 

 two bands at the top. If properly stocked, 

 corn can be left in this way for weeks, or ( 

 months ; but it is better to commence Luskiii 

 soon as the corn is dry. 



Stocking without binding into bundles is, 

 think, a more expeditions method. A good ' 

 is to take seven rows, cut up three on each si 

 and form the stock on every third or fourth hil! 

 the centre row. This gives from twenty-one 

 twenty-eight hills in a stock. The hill arc 

 which the stock is formed is left standing f<|4ti 

 support, and is easily cut at the time of husk 

 The top of the com is grasped with the left h 



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