150 FORAGE CROPS 
and northeastern states, the corn is usually cut 
and shocked, and when the ears are dry enough 
to erib, the corn is husked and the stalks are re- 
shocked in the field until cured, and then either 
carted to large stacks or stored in the barn. This 
is an economical method of curing and saving the 
crop. In the South and parts of the West the 
practice is merely to “top” the stalk, and the 
leaves and stalk below the ear, with the husks, re- 
main standing in the field. This practice results 
in a large waste of valuable material. In many of 
the western states, only the ears are removed from 
the standing corn and the staJks are not harvested; 
the only value gained from the stover is that which 
may be secured by the animals following the husk- 
ers, and even then probably not one-third of the 
food is utilized. 
Another source of loss of fodder, even though 
the corn is husked and the stalks shocked, oceurs 
when the shocks are left in the field until they are 
needed for food. By this method great losses 
occur, due to the mechanical removal of the leaves 
by weather, to changes in chemical composition, 
and to the removal of a large proportion of the 
best of the material by wind- and rain-storms; 
besides, the rain and snow soak the outer parts of 
the shocks, and these parts become frozen, not 
only rendering them unpalatable but making it im- 
possible to remove the entire product to the barn. 
