HARVESTING AND STORAGE 



463 



day. The average cost for cutting by hand is reported to be CHAP. 

 6'5 cents per bushel, or $1-50 (6s. 3d.) per acre. XI - 



436. Does it Pay to ( r se Machinery for Harvesting the Maize 

 Crop? — As the result of an exhaustive inquiry into maize- 

 harvesting machinery in use in the United States, Mr. Zintheo 

 (1) concludes that by the use of the proper machinery in place 

 of hand methods of harvesting 

 the ears (leaving the stalks to 

 waste), the farmer may consider- 

 ably increase the net income from 

 his maize crop, and still allow 

 full price for the use of the dif- 

 ferent machines. But he also 

 says that there is a limit beyond 

 which it is not profitable for a 

 farmer to invest in maize-har- 

 vesting machinery, and that the 

 amount of work to be done by 

 the machine each year should be 

 carefully considered before a pur- 

 chase is made. As a general rule 

 " it is better not to invest in ex- 

 pensive implements unless there 

 is sufficient work in sight to 

 make them profitable ". 



The relative advantage of 

 using machine or hand-labour 

 depends in the first instance on 

 the amount of work to be done ; 

 the U.S. Department of Agricul- 

 ture finds that a farmer who has 

 only 20 acres of maize to cut per 

 year, and who does not intend to 

 cut any for his neighbours, would 



lose money by purchasing a maize binder if he could hire one 

 from a neighbour, or had sufficient labour to harvest his crop 

 by hand ; and further that it would require a cut of at least 80 

 acres per year before the investment in a corn binder would 

 be profitable. 1 We have heard of a farmer on the Transvaal 



Fig. 170. — Cane knife used for 

 cutting maize. 



1 It is admitted, however, that this is a conserv. 



ative estimate, for with proper 



care the 



life of the machine would probably be consi 



iderablv longer than the 



