192 SOUTHERN FIELD CROPS 



Usually it pays much better to employ the same labor in 

 curing hay, in which operation a day's work will provide 

 several times as much forage as one day spent in fodder 

 puUing.i 



178. Topping corn. — ■ Occasionally corn stalks are cut 

 just above the ears. The yield of tops is but httle more 

 than the yield of blades or " fodder " would be, and the 

 quality of tops is poorer, while the labor is about the same. 

 Topping does not greatly reduce the yield of grain, if post- 

 poned until quite late. On the whole, it is a very un- 

 profitable operation. 



179. Cutting and shocking corn. — When performed 

 at the proper time, this does not materially reduce the 

 yield of grain. The time to cut corn is when practically 

 all outer shucks have turned straw-color, at which time 

 the grains have hardened. This is usually about ten days 

 later than the stage at which " fodder " is ordinarily pulled. 

 The advantages of this method of harvesting corn are the 

 following : (1) all the forage is saved ; (2) the use of the 

 land for the next crop, except a small space occupied by 

 the shock, can be had at an earlier date ; (3) it frees the 

 land from corn stalks and hence puts it in better condition 

 for seeding to small grain ; and (4) it permits the harvesting 

 of the corn crop by machinery. 



180. The extent of the saving by cutting and shocking 

 corn. — It is often stated that the stover (that is, the 

 leaves, shucks, and stalks) are nearly equal in feeding 

 value to the ears produced on the same area. This is not 

 true for ordinary Southern corn, so large a proportion of 



' For a financial statement relative to fodder pulling, see Georgia 

 Experiment Station Bui. No. 74, page 278. 



