CHAPTER X. 

 CUTTING AND GATHERING THE CROPS. 



Necessary Tools, Etc. 



My own experience in soiling twelve to fourteen 

 head of cattle and four horses may be briefly stated 

 as follows : The cutting was done with a D. M. Os- 

 borne self-rake reaper No. 3. I began with a 

 scythe, then the mowing machine, but the reaper 

 was the thing, throwing it off in gavels in the best 

 possible way to facilitate handling, and where it will 

 wilt without drying out. Monday morning, for in- 

 stance, the farm team is attached to the reaper, and 

 cuts in twenty or thirty minutes enough feed to sup- 

 ply the stock for two days. This reaper was used for 

 three seasons for this purpose, also for cutting the 

 ensilage com. Nowadays the self-raking reaper has 

 generally been supplanted by the self-binders. I 

 have letters from several binder companies, saying 

 that they will guarantee their machines to cut the 

 green crops for soiling, and no doubt they can. It 

 need not and should not be bound. The improved 

 corn cutters leave little to be wished for in the 

 gathering of the corn forage for soiling or ensilage, 

 and the work and expense of harvesting are with 

 these machines reduced to a minimum. 

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