l66 THE BOOK OF CORN 



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In 1881 Dr Manley Miles made some tests in 

 Michigan and found that from husking time until the 

 succeeding spring the shrinkage amounted to a little 

 over fifteen per cent. In Kentucky a number of farm- 

 ers pay particular attention to shrinkage and they find 

 it ranges from seven to eighteen per cent. A number 

 of tests have also been made by experiment stations to 

 determine the amount of shrinkage after the corn has 

 been shelled. In most of the tests shelled com shrank 

 seven and one-half per cent during five months. 



THE LATEST IN CORN HARVESTING MACHINERY 



is the com harvester and shocker. It consists of a 

 com binder in which the binding apparatus is replaced 

 with a platform and windlass. The corn is cut but not 

 bound. It collects on the platform until a shock of the 

 desired size is secured. The machine is then stopped, 

 the shock tied by hand, the windlass ropes adjusted 

 and the shock deposited on the ground in an upright 

 position. The shocks are necessarily small. This is 

 a very satisfactory method of cutting com where the 

 corn is to be husked as soon as dry and the fodder put 

 into larger shocks. If to be fed unhusked it is more 

 economical to use the binder as the work can be done 

 more rapidly. 



