HARVESTING AND STORAGE 46 , 



ten days to cut off the stalks above the ear ; this is more ex- CHAP, 

 peditious than the ordinary method and adds largely to the XL 

 yield of stover. 



The effect of this " pulling" on the yield of grain has been 

 investigated by eight, at least, of the State Experiment 

 Stations, and the general result shows a loss of 10 to 20 per 

 cent of grain. The Florida Station {Bull. 16) finds that the 

 "pulling" of fodder has the effect of loosening the husks in 

 the ear before the grains become hard, thus promoting the 

 ravages of weevils. 



431. Topping. — This is a method which has been practised 

 in some parts of the United States, when the stover is required 

 to supply lack of food before the maize crop is ripe. The 

 prevailing conditions in South Africa do not call for the 

 practice of this method, because there is usually abundance of 

 food at the time when the maize crop could be topped. In 

 any case the practice cannot be recommended, for investiga- 

 tions show that topping results in a loss of grain which is 

 "more than the feeding value of the fodder secured" (Missis- 

 sippi Bull. 33, 1895, P- 63 ; Pennsylvania Rep. 1891, pp. 

 58-60). 



432. Methods of Harvesting for Grain. — Briefly the 

 following methods and devices for harvesting maize for grain 

 are in vogue : (1) Husking the ears from the standing crop ; 

 (2) picking the ears from the standing crop with a "corn- 

 picker"; (3) cutting the stalks by hand, with knives; (4) 

 cutting with sled harvesters and similar devices, or cutting 

 with (5) maize binders and (6) maize shockers. 



433. Husking by Hand from the Standing Stalks. — When 

 the crop is allowed to dry off as it stands in the field, as is 

 most usual in South Africa, husking is easily done by the 

 "boys" who harvest the ears; opening the husk with one 

 hand and catching hold of the ear with the other, a sharp 

 twist or bend breaks the ear from the node above the upper 

 husk ; the ears are dropped into a bag slung around the neck, 

 and when this bag is full it is emptied into a sack common to 

 three or four pickers, to be carried when full to the headland 

 (Fig. 169); the shelter is moved from heap to heap. 



434. Cost of Bland-picking in the United States. — From 

 300 replies furnished by farmers in different parts of the 



