Connecticut western news., 1880-09-29
-.-s..--.- FARM AND GARDEN.
CoRNsrA1Ks AND SEED. CORN

coRNsTA1Ks AND SEED. CORN.
 It takes corn and the cornstalks long, CT to dry, or cure, when cut up by the roots than when the corn is topped. There is more juice in the butts of the stalks than in the topmost portion, and the watery portion must be well dried out or the stalks will mold if they are packed together in quantities. The upper portion of the stalks, if bound up into small bundles and placed in stocks, will usually be fit to house in two or three weeks, while the whole stalks re- quire much longer time, especially if they are large and bulky. The stacks should not contain more than twenty five hills when the crop is good, and they should be set evenly around the standing hill so that the stock will not fall down. The ears will dry quicker and brighter when left on the hill as they are when the corn is topped. Topped corn always husks easier as the husks open, and it is easier to get at the ear. Many farmers prefer to cut their corn up at the root, so that it can be drawn into the barn and husked under cover. They also estimate the husks to be too valu- able to leave to dry up and waste in the field. When corn is topped, the ears may be snapped off and taken into the barn and husked there, and the husks saved, but they are not so handy to ham, dle as when the stalks are left whole
 Long cornstalks are bother when thrown out with the manure, on account of tangling the manure fork, and on this account corn is often topped to reduce the length. Some painstaking farmers run their cornstalks through a straw cutter to make them fine for the manure pile, so that the stock will eat more of them. It hardly pays the cost. They may be broken up and made more palat- able as we'll as fine for the manure heap, by running them through thrashing machine which tears them into little bits. An ordinary three-horse thrashing machine will also husk and shell the corn if the stalks and ears are run through it. When this is done the corn should be very dry or 1t will mold un- less carefully spread and turned. Corn stalks may be packed or moved together in large quantities if layer of dry straw is put between each layer of bundles. The stalks will impart to the straw a savory smell and make it liked by the stock. Stalks should never be put into a mow when damp, or they will surely mold and be injured. Sweet, well-cured cornstalks are equal to good hay for fod- der, and will make more milk than hay. They are laxative in their nature, and hence, excellent to feed with hay o1 grain. More fodder may be obtained by cutting corn up at the roots, and better ears by topping it. The best course to follow depends upon the wants of the farmer.
 The best seed-corn can be obtained from the topped corn, as there is no dan. ger of its being heated or getting moldy
 and if left in the field late it will be toe dry to be injured by freezing. Seed
 corn can be safely gathered from {
 topped field almost any time if it is kep
 dry afterward, but when the corn is te
 be cut up at the root it should be gath cred beforehand. In this case-and i
 is good rule always-the earliest ant
 brightest ears should be selected, ant those we'll filled out at the tips. Seed
 ears ought always to be taken frou stalks which have two ears on them. B.
 careful and continuous selection of tn earliest ears, and those most perfect, tn | variety may be made easier, and by talk
 ing only from the stalks with two ears propensity or nature may be establishe' in the variety to produce two ears.
 know of a farmer who followed thi course to shorten the ripening season c , his corn (smut white, all early sort , fully ten days, and nearly every stal
 bore two ears. Freezing and thawin injures seed-corn when it is wet, henc the sooner in autumn it is gathered an made dry the more likely it is to grow It should be twisted or braided togethe . by the husks, and hung up in some dr room or out doors in the sun for fe7 . days, after which it may be put away i
 dry place where it will not be modesto , by rats or mice, and kept till plantin time. We always cut our corn up, a we want all of the fodder.