86 FIELD CROPS 



of corn stover is from !}< to 1J^ tons per acre. If the yield 

 is \y<i tons, the cost per ton would be $2.43. As compared 

 with clover hay at $8 a ton, corn stover has been shown to 

 be worth but $3 a ton. If clover is worth $4 a ton, approxi- 

 mately the cost of production, then corn stover is worth but 

 $1.50 a ton. To make corn stalks or corn stover worth 

 enough to pay for the cost of saving them, or $2.43 a ton, 

 clover hay would need to be worth $6.50 a ton. These 

 facts illustrate that in a good many instances it is not econ- 

 omy to save the corn stover, but preferable to raise clover 

 hay for feed. However, when forage is high in price and 

 clover hay is worth from $8 to $12 per ton, it becomes a 

 paying investment to save corn stover. 



99. Pasturing Stalk Fields. The practice is very general 

 throughout the corn belt of allowing stock to run in the corn- 

 fields after the corn has been husked, whenever weather 

 conditions are favorable throughout the fall and winter. 

 There are some reports of injury to stock by this practice, but 

 it has not been definitely shown that the injury comes 

 directly from the corn stalks, and the practice is still con- 

 tinued even by the very best stockmen and corn growers. 



100. Hogging Off Corn. Constantly increasing acreages 

 of corn are being harvested by simply turning hogs into the 

 field as soon as the corn is ripe and allowing them to gather 

 the crop. This practice may seem very slovenly and waste- 

 ful, but careful experiments have demonstrated that pork 

 may be produced economically in this way; that is, that an 

 acre of corn will produce fully as much and usually a little 

 more pork if the hogs are allowed to gather it themselves 

 than if it is husked and fed to them in the yard. If hogs are 

 not turned into too large fields, the waste is not great; in 

 fact, they will usually gather the corn as clean as a man. 

 The better results which are sometimes obtained from this 

 method are due, perhaps, to the fact that hogs are better 



