4 68 



MAIZE 



CHAP. 

 XI. 



as it is tied is discharged on to the ground. Two or three men 

 follow and shock the corn, i.e. set the sheaves up in the form 

 of stooks or, as they are usually called, shocks. 



Maize binders weigh from 1,400 to 1,800 lbs. ; " generally 

 speaking, those weighing in the neighbourhood of 1,500 lbs. 

 have been most successful, this weight seeming to give the 

 proper relation between driving power and durability ". 



"The corn binder is used to greatest advantage in fields 

 where the corn is check-rowed, as it is possible to cut around 

 a block, keeping the machine constantly in operation." 



Fig. 174. — Maize binder at work in America. 



"The corn binder is well adapted for cutting corn for the 

 silo, as the bundles are bound into convenient size for handling, 

 but this saving of labour is accomplished at the cost of twine." 



44 1 . Estimated Cost of Using a Maize Binder. — We have 

 no available data as to the relative cost of harvesting by hand 

 and machinery in South Africa, since harvesting machinery 

 has not yet come into general use. We must therefore take 

 American figures as a basis on which to work. 



The following figures give some idea of the efficiency of the 

 maize binder : — 



