VALUE OF STALK FIELDS 381 



THE VALUE OF STALK FIELDS. Depending upon the sever- 

 ity of the winter and the amount of snow on the ground, the value 

 of stalk fields varies. 15 to 25 cents per acre formerly bought the 

 best of fields, but in recent years 50 cents to $1.50 an acre have been 

 paid. Dense foliage and heavy husks produce considerable roughage 

 upon which to winter stock cattle. Close stocking during the winter 

 facilitates spring work because less stalks remain upright to bother in 

 preparing the ground. If cattle or horses are left in the fields too late 

 in the spring the soil is liable to be puddled by trampling so as to ruin 

 the tilth for a whole season. 



TURNING STOCK IN THE UNHUSKED FIELDS. In the 



western part of the corn belt some farmers do not husk their corn at 

 all. The crops are fed at home and the finished product turned off in 

 the form of beef, mutton, or pork. Since the fields are fenced, there is 

 no reason why the animals themselves should not gather their own 

 feed, and such is the practice in vogue. In early autumn sheep (pref- 

 erably western lambs) are turned in to eat the weeds, grass, and down 

 corn. They are then taken out and put on regular feed in the yard. 

 About the middle of October the two or three-year-old fattening steers 

 are let into the field. These cattle have been previously brought up to 

 full feed of corn, either old, or new, usually newly cut corn. For the 

 first two weeks they are only allowed in the field a few hours daily, 

 but later are given free access to the crop. The hogs, which are 

 spring shoats, are not turned in until three or four weeks later, as they 

 make the fodder somewhat distasteful to the cattle. 



Advantages of This Practice : 



First, labor saving in both husking the corn and preparing it for 

 feed. 



Second, the husks take the place of hay or shocked fodder which 

 may be used as roughage and which costs labor and time. 



Third, all the manure from both cattle and hogs is left right on the 

 land in an available form and not deposited in the feed yard to be 

 leached out by the rains before it can be spread. Of course, during 

 the finishing period of feeding, closer attention and confinement is 

 required. There is positively very little or no waste. During the fall 

 of 1905, on a farm in western Iowa, forty acres were handled in this 

 manner. The following spring there was hardly a grain of corn to be 

 seen, the cobs laid on the ground, and the stalks were easily turned 

 under by the plow. 



