COST OF SAVING STOVER 



81 



In a general way, the feeding value of the stalk fields approxi- 

 mates from one-third to one-half the value of the cured fodder. 



Cost of Saving Stover. According to experiments by the 

 Minnesota Station 1 it costs $3.64 an acre more to harvest and shred 

 the stover than to harvest only the ears. Zintheo 2 estimated from 

 data collected that it cost from $1.18 to $1.50 per acre to harvest the 

 fodder, and about 1.6 cents per bushel more to husk the grain from 

 fodder than standing stalks, or a total cost of $2.00 per acre to secure 



FIG. 30. Harvesting corn by hand. 



the fodder. With a yield of l l / 2 tons of stover per acre, stover 

 would cost from $1.50 to $2.50 per ton for labor, according to the 

 above figures. 



Whether it will pay to harvest corn stover at the above prices 

 will depend on the cost of producing other forage, as timothy, clover, 

 or sorghums. In general a ton of good stover is estimated to be 



1 Wilson and Warburton : Field Crops, p. 85. 



3 U. S. Department of Agriculture, Office of Experiment Station, 173, 46. 

 6 



