Vol. LXVI. No. 2970. 
NEW YORK, FEBRUARY 9, 1907 
WEEKLY, *1.00 PER VKAR 
GOOD WORK WITH A CORN HUSKER. 
Handling Crain and Fodder in Ohio. 
It takes seven teams to operate :i 12-roll litisker, six 
teams to bring up the corn and and fodder and one 
to take away the corn. We have two wagons for the 
corn, but only use one team ; they bring the empty wagon 
up to the machine and hitch to the loaded wagon, and 
two men can easily put tile empty wagon under the 
carrier. The machine 1 am referring to is an Advance, 
three wagons for each side of the machine, as it takes 
two feeders. In this way there are two wagons up all 
the time, two are being loaded, and two are on their 
way to the field. We can husk all the way from 600 
to 1,000 bushels per day, according to the condition 
of the corn and fodder. We have husked 40 bushels 
in 2() minutes. The machine does the finest work when 
operate right above the rolls, which keep the ears in 
rotation and in their place until they are thoroughly 
clean from husks. Then they pass on to the carrier, 
which is right in front of the machine, and then it: is 
elevated up into the wagon. 
The carrier is about 20 inches wide; it is a box and 
has an endless chain with steel strips about 2 feet apart 
that are about 2/i inches high. When the fodder and 
corn is really dry it will shell some corn, hut if it is 
in proper condition it shells very little. This machine 
is equipped with riddles just the same as a grain sepa¬ 
rator. The shelled corn goes through the riddles into 
the grain elevator and is sacked up nice and clean. 
After the fodder leaves the snapping rolls it comes 
in contact with what we call a shredder head (some 
prefer a cutter head, but we would rather have the 
former), and it shreds it in fine shreds and then it 
much corn, and then they have their fodder to look 
after, which has been standing out all this time while 
my fodder is dry. Last of all 1 have to help six men 
shuck one day apiece, which does not take very long, 
only six days, then I am through. My fodder does 
not have to stand out in the weather and get bleached, 
soaked with water or frozen up with snow and ice. 
Piqua, O. j. b. s. 
HINTS ON SPRING SOWING. 
While it is desirable to sow oats and Spring wheat 
early, there is a liability of doing it too soon. Of 
course, no one will sow in snow, but some cultivate 
land in Spring before it has dried off. That this is 
liable to make the soil lumpy, is well known, but it 
also hinders speedy drying. Just gxamine the soil sur¬ 
face closely. It will he found full of an infinite nttm- 
the fodder is in good case, simply because the stalks 
do not break at the joints, consequently the stalk goes 
right through and two-fifths of the ears are husked 
clean, right at the snapping rolls. The teamsters table 
the fodder on the machine and the feeders spread it 
thinly on the web; the web carries it to the snapping, 
rolls, and as the fodder goes through the snapping rolls 
the ears tire snapped off, and then they drop through 
a space of about l. r > inches between the web and the 
rolls, then down on the husking rolls, which are com¬ 
posed of six double, or 12 single rolls. The reason why 
I say double rolls is because they run in pairs towards 
one another, and these rolls have little pegs on them 
which grasp the husk arid tear it off the ears. Where 
there are pegs on one roller, there are grooves in the 
other. 'This gives the peg a chance to husk the com 
as the rolls go round, also in connection with the rolls 
there is a set of springs, which we call recleaners, that 
goes over the shaker into the blower and then through 
the blower pipe or tube into the mow or barn any 
where it is wanted; stalks, blades and husks all go 
through as one. 
How about the cost? Considering everything it is 
by far the cheapest way. Say, for instance, I had 1,000 
bushels of corn in shocks to husk. 1 get the machine 
to come and husk it, 1 have a team of my own; say 
I crib these 2f> to • r >0 bushel loads with my team, and 
have six of my neighbors to haul up the corn and fod¬ 
der, and have four men in the field to load or pitch 
it up to the loader or teamster, two men to three wag¬ 
ons and two to the other three wagons. All I have 
to pay is for the. husking and four or five men, and 
when night comes I shall have all of my corn in the 
crib, and all my shredded fodder in the barn. That 
is a great thing considering the weather and the time 
and labor one man or two will spend husking that 
her of cracks and crevices. It is through these that 
moisture escapes. By stirring the soil the openings are 
closed (covered), and, of course, the excessive water 
in the soil is prevented from escaping. This is exactly 
what has been recommended for corn culture, but in 
Spring it is out of place. Where wet Springs are fol¬ 
lowed by dry periods, some may think that land should 
he \vorked early to prevent the escape of moisture. 
This is not correct, for excessive water must he re¬ 
moved before seed can sprout properly and grow well. 
Understand, that surface cultivation- which is so much 
recommended now—does not preserve a large amount 
of moisture in the first six or eight inches of soil but 
prevents the escape of that constantly brought from the 
water table several feet in the ground by capillary at¬ 
traction. 
For best results with Spring grains, the soil must be 
well prepared. On account of the rush of Spring work. 
