Wilmington journal. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1844-1895, 1851-05-30
From the American Farmer.

- From the American Farmer
Essay on Harvesting OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES Meth
DDS Compared.
BY EDuUN RUFFIN, OF VA.
The gathering of the leaves of Indian corn to cure
for provender, pulling fodder" lin common par
lance is of the Oldest and most general practices
in the the farming of lower and middle Virginia.
1t was established in early times, when no hay was
made. Even now. so rare meadows, or artificial
grasses for moving, that much the greater number
OF our farmers kind of long forage for horses
and mules except corn-fodder-an in fewer cases,
oat-straw. Hence, the usual fodder crop is lndls-
pensabe on almost every farm, and there is rarely
an omission of the leaves of the whole crop be-
ing stripped That operation, together with the
subsequent cutting tops" or all the stalk above
the (Which follows Immediately after the strip
ping off the lower leaves) and the curing and stack
ing of both, usually give full occupation to nearly
all the laborers of every farm during all September
or for or weeks, whether beginning earlier or
ending later than September This is the very time
when sickness is most common on every place SUBJ
iect to autumnal or malarious diseases; and when
sickness is most apt to be produced even in healthy
places, by improper exposure. And of all the ordl
nary work on farm. requires more exposure
of the laborers and risk of injury to their health,
than the usual and light labors of pulling and secur
ing fodder. Dews cannot be avoided and the labor
ers are made more or less wet by the dew on the
and the tall grass, every morning. Again, the
crispness of the cured fodder forbids It's being ham
died when dry as it would lose much by crumbling
and also be less manageable Hence the necessity
for the general of bringing together and stack
ing the cured fodder mostly in the night. for the
benefit of damp air This exposure to night air is
for the laborers than that to the heavier dews
of the mornings; and both kinds are the more dam
gerous to health because the light labor, and the
lazy movements belonging to it, do not give enough
exercise to counterfeit the outward dampness by the
brisk circulation of the blood
Having abandoned this practice, and never having
attended to its details when formerly pursuing It,
am not qualified to estimate the cost OF obtaining
this harvest, the usual net profit Gf any, on the
operation. But if carefully observed and fairly es
timated, think it would be found on the general
average of good and bad crops of fodder and of good
and bad weather for securing them, that there is
very little nett profit in general and in many cases
the value of the secured crop is less than the cost OF
labor.
But besides the cost of labor there is another and
perhaps important expense incurred in the
usual time and mode of getting fodder, which is not
commonly known suspected by many far
mers This is, in the lessening the due filing and
size and weight of the grain. by removing the green
leaves The leaves Of a plant serve to gather food
from the atmosphere, and also to prepare in the
passag e through its vessels, the sap received from
the rootsso that the leaves act for the same gener
al purpose and are as necessary to the sustenance
and life Of the plant as the roots themselves. SO
long the leaves of corn green and succulent,
and have not begun to fade, and whether below Or
above the ears, they still continue to furnish nour-
ishment to the grain and necessary to It's per-
feet filling. As soon as this service IS completed
and the grain can draw no more nourishment, than
the leaves begin to fade, and after, the plant
dies Within the limits of this very short state of
transition from continuing growth to death, it is
that fodder might be pulled with safety to the
grain. But there would not be half time enough
for the harvest, and moreover. it would then have
lost most of its ordinary value, by standing long
The general rule for beginning to pull fodder, is
when the outer ends of the grains of corn have be-
come depressed. or indentatons are formed Gin our
ordinary soft ground corn by the partial drying OF
the grain. But after that state has arrived, the
heart and interior of the grain still very soft,
and often milky. The leaves Also unless " hred'
or prematurely faded by drought) are still green,
and would so remain, and afford more nourishment
to the plant for some days if not weeks after the
usual time of removing them all-which operation
kills the plant Immediately.
The diminution of the product of grain caused by
taking off the green leaves though little regard
ed in general has long been subject OF discussion,
and in some degree also of experiment. Statements
of experiments, and arguments founded thereon,
were presented in various articles IN vols ana OF
the Farmers Register. All of these writer's and ex
perimenters with but single exception, OF very
loose observer who scarcely deserved being there
quoed) agreed in the general result OF there being
very great loss incurred. Among such conclu-
sOns derived from experiments satisfactory at least
to the several conductors Mr.. Clark of Nlassachu-
sets, found the loss of grain equal to about 20 per
cent. IF. R. vol. ii, p 243. 5) MIR. Andrew Nicol'
of Virginia, supposed the amount OF loss. Up.
1857 Mr. Charles Moodson, of Virginia. found
that the sheed corn of left without having
any fodder taken off weighed, when dry rather
more than both the corn and the fodder of
one side, from which the lower leaves only were
strpped-and rather less than the corn and all the
blades of another adjacent row, from which both
lower blades wore stripped and the tops CUT usual
the blades on the tops being afterwards separated
for the weighing (p. 6O9) MIR. Lorain, of Pennsyl.
vania found the comparative quantities OF ears of
corn from three adj acent rows as follows:
Row not stripped or topped bushels %
Another topped Aug Goth, and stripped after Sept
Another topped on Sept 3D. and stripped after Sept
Lor snii Husbandry-and F R vol iii, p. $685.
Mr. w. S. Fontaine, of Virginia. from expert
that by pulling the fodder and cutting the tops, as
usually DONE he reduced the product of grain per
acre nearly bushels, from 26 to about 2O) while
the dried fodder (omitting the stalk of the top)
weighed 386 lbs. to the acre; which, at the then
usual prices, losing $3.50 worth of grain, and
saving instead, at much greater labor, $l:69 worth
of fodder, e. R. V. iii, p. $40
Mr.. VIM. Carmichael of Maryland found the
proportion of shelled corn produced on row from
which the fodder BLADES and tops,) had been re-
moved and another left with the fodder as Al Of
the former to 46 of the latter In this the corn
was much drier than usual when the fodder was ia
ken off and therefore less loss caused (F. R. " ill.,
p. 66l)
But high as are these authorities and carefully as
the experiments were made it must be admitted
that all the experiments had some defect either IN
the manner of conducting them, or of observing or
noting the results The subject is very difficult
one for making perfectly accurate experiments
Still, allowing for all apparent imperfection and
sources of uncertainty 1t can scarcely be supposed
nj n observers mnch mistaken