418 _ QUEENSLAND AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. [1 Drc., 1898. 
with the husks and piths, forms a considerable weight, so that it is imperative 
to build the crib of very strong materials, and have all the pieces well braced 
together. : ; 
When the husks, grains, and piths are thoroughly dry, then is the time 
for husking, shelling, bagging, and marketing. d 
Who of us does not remember with a shudder the long, tedious hours spent 
at husking corn by hand. It is a work which is of necessity usually left to the 
weaker members of the family. It is none the less a very trying work indeed. 
The husks emit atiny, very aggressive dust, most irritating to the throat, eyes, 
and skin. The stack seems so large! ‘The work will never be finished. It 
drags along during the whole season to the great discomfort of the whole 
household. Who of us has not had then the criminal idea that dad’s crop was 
too large, and wished there had been less of it. 
Then comes the shelling, mostly done yet by the little hand corn-sheller. 
There is at least some movement in the work, some noise too; but it is none 
the less hard for the boys to turn the handle the whole day through, like 
Samson of old in the city of the Philistines. 
Happily those can be at any time things of the past, thanks to the 
ingenuity of a Queenslander, Mr. Adam Riickert, of Broxbourne, near Pitts- 
worth, the smart inventor of the Riickert’s corn-husking, shelling, sorting, 
winnowing, cleaning, and bagging machine. I had the machine at work on 
the Experiment Farm, and had thus an opportunity of studying it and of 
judging of its work. From outside it looks very much like an ordinary wheat- 
threshing machine, with, of course, many alterations required to perform its work 
efficiently. The cobs are shovelled into a kind of shoot, and there elevated by 
an endless chain which throws them into a yawning mouth composed of fixed 
iron bars, and of a rapidly revolving pegdrum of a peculiar pattern, which 
forms the principal merit of the invention. The corn, perfectly clean, rapidly 
drops on the side into a bag in an uninterrupted golden streamlet, whilst the 
husks, piths, and rubbish are being thrown out elsewhere, each in its particular 
place. In that way from fifteen to twenty bags are turned out per hour, ata 
cost of from 4d. to 6d. per bag, or not exceeding14d. per bushel. ‘The machine 
weighs only 15 cwt., and is being worked by a 3-horse power portable engine. 
Before leaving the subject of harvesting, it should be mentioned that 
Professor Thompson, of New South Wales, advises taking off the cobs when 
quite green, then husking and curing them in the crib, whilst the yet green 
cornstalks can be at once cut and turned into ensilage! I had never an oppor- 
tunity of trying it myself, so I do not take upon myself to recommend it. 
Still the eminent authority it comes from should make it worth while for 
every corngrower to give it a trial, were it only on a small scale. Should the 
corn turn out to be really as good as the one which has ripened on the stalks— 
which somehow seems doubtful—then corngrowing would become one of the 
most profitable crops a farmer can grow. Not only would an acre of maize 
produce from 40 to 60 bushels of seed, but in addition from 8 to 12 tons of 
ensilage, which should be worth at least a similar weight of hay for feeding 
all farm animals. Why, with such a crop a farmer would grow rich in no time. 
STORING AND MARKETING. 
The safest way is, of course, to market the crops at once, when the thing 
is possible. But usually at that time there is a rush on the market, and prices 
run low. Besides, every farmer wants corn for his own use all the year 
through. It becomes therefore absolutely necessary to store it in some way. 
The best and cheapest way I know of is to store in air-tight iron tanks. It 
goes without saying that, in order to prevent the formation of mouldiness and 
decay, the corn should be thoroughly dry before being stored, which is usually 
the case when it has passed through the corncrib. 
A piece of rag impregnated with a small quantity of bisulphide of carbon 
(bisulphide being both very poisonous and inflammable, keep both mouth and 
candle away from it), and put on top of the corn, will prevent all damage from 
