282 DRY LAND FARMING 



the weeder and the cultivator, and in the order named. 

 The harrow attacks weeds that may be starting and 

 gradually works soil into the furrows around the corn, 

 which in time are rilled. The weeder may be used later. 

 The cultivating is much the same as for other corn. 



Harvesting. Corn may be harvested in semi-arid 

 areas : (1) by snapping off the ears ; (2) by cutting, shock- 

 ing, and then husking; (3) by cutting and curing for 

 feeding without husking, that is, by feeding in the 

 bundle; (4) by cutting and curing in the silo; (5) by al- 

 lowing swine to consume the ears from the uncut stalks, 

 and (6) by grazing it off with sheep when mature. 



The snapping off of the ears by hand may best take 

 place when some dwarfish kind of corn has been grown 

 on ground to be planted to winter wheat, the wheat being 

 drilled in among the stalks that are to furnish protection 

 for it in the winter season. The dwarfish nature of the 

 growth may interfere with harvesting the ears otherwise 

 than by hand in the absence of sheep and swine. In dry 

 areas the grazing of stalks from which the ears have 

 been removed can scarcely be said to be profitable. They 

 become so dry and brittle that they rank low in palata- 

 bility. 



When the corn is large enough to cut with the bind- 

 er, the ears may be husked in the ordinary way or with 

 the aid of the corn shredder. In northern areas it may 

 not be easy to secure enough dryness in the stalks to 

 make it easily practicable to preserve them in the shred- 

 ded form. But this will not apply to corn in southern 

 areas of the dry belt. 



In dry areas corn will more commonly be cut with 

 the corn harvester, cured in the shock and fed in the 

 bundle from the shock or from the stack. The great 

 bulk of the corn crop in those areas will be harvested 

 and fed in this way. Where the snowfall is very light, it 

 may answer quite well to draw and feed the corn from 



