HARVESTING 157 



place one or two extra boards to act as bump boards. 

 The husker need not then use so much care in throw- 

 ing in his corn, which will enable him to do more work. 

 A good husker so gauges the distance from the row 

 to the wagon box that it is not necessary for him to 

 look where he throws the ear. If seed corn is to be 

 selected at this time place a box or barrel in one end 

 of the wagon and into it throw all the ears from strong 

 vigorous stalks, provided they come near the desired 

 type. When unloading throw out all soft, partially 

 rotted or smutted ears and feed at once to cattle. It 

 is much better to look after this carefully than to run 

 the risk of a bad ear spoiling a lot of corn in its imme- 

 diate vicinity. 



As soon as the husking is started the work should 

 be pushed as rapidly as possible, for the corn ought 

 to be out of the field by Thanksgiving time. Compar- 

 atively good weather frequently prevails up to Christ- 

 mas, but there are always some stormy days which 

 make it difficult to get the corn out and very fre- 

 quently result in loss. If corn is in the field until 

 Christmas there is very little likelihood of getting it 

 out until spring opens. This is very bad farming, as 

 great loss is sure to follow. Get all other farm work 

 out of the way before husking begins, then devote all 

 the time to this work. Other things can wait, but 

 this cannot. When the husks are loose, the corn dry 

 and ears large, one man can easily husk fifty to fifty- 

 five bushels a day. Some men can accomplish much 

 more and many much less. Husking thirty-five to 

 forty-five acres during one autumn is enough for one 

 man, and he must not have too many chores to do in 

 order to get through to good advantage. An attempt 

 to husk more will usually extend the work into cold, 

 snowy weather. 



