The Marietta journal. [volume] (Marietta, Ga.) 1866-1909, 1895-09-19
QUERIES ANSWERED.
Commissioner Nesbitt's Oues-
ton Box For the Month.
MUCH ABOUT IRRIGATING LAND.

J ters Furnished The CuItivator For n
More General Circuiation-The Keystone
Corn Husker Used Only For Corn That Is
! Cured ON the Stalk
QUESTION Can you tell me some.
thing of the practical working of the
key stone Corn Husker and Fodder
Cutter" which have seen advertised as
cutting and Shedding the stalks, as
we'll as husking the corn?
ANSWER I've have had no per-
sonal experience with the machine
mentioned, but give the comments of
| competent persons who have tried it.
OF course you understand that the ma
chine is used anly for corn, which has
been cured entire, that is stalk, leaf,
shuck and ear, in the shock, as is done
in the west. The Breeders Gazette
says:
"By its use, leaves, stalks land ears if
wanted) are reduced to homogeneous
mass of soft fibre, easily handled and
eagerly eaten. The fodder shredder is
well named. 1t simply tears into shreds
all parts OF the plant and reduces it to
a pulpy form, in which none will be re-
1ected by the stock. 1t is general in
vention, and the one which will best
aid US in effecting a saving of the 81
per cent of value of the corn crop now
largely lost.
cit is altogether probable that the in.
vention of this machine will open up
new market for corn fodder. The
| shredded fodder baled can be handled
like baled hay, and is only a little less
valuable as food stuff for city horses
than the best of hay. 1t is only a ques
ton of time when baled shredded fod-
der will be quoted in city feed markets,
and its nutrients, its palatability, and
| its freedom from dust are bound to
bring it into popularity as horse feed.
The left over portions, in case of over
/ feed, can be taken from the managers
and used as bedding-and indeed it is
not impossible that the poorer grade of
shredded fodder such as has been
largely weather beaten of its nutri-
ment-may be sold regularly for bed
ding. Nothing can be better for this
purpose. In ease of handling, in soft.
ness and in absorptive qualities it
meets the requirements of an ideal bed.
ding. Fodder, thus treated, can be
used for bedding On the farm to ad.
vantage"
In the commissioner talk for the
month, he calls attention to our waste
full policy of gathering the corn and
fodder and leaving the stalk, which
contains neary one-fourth the value of
the entire plant. standing in the field.
One of these machines has been test.
at the Agricultural Experiment Sta.
ton, and Professor Nourse says of it:
Labor required may be summed up
as follows: One feeder, one engineer. a
man to place corn on table, one to help
load in the field, another to unload
husked corn, and one or two men to
put fodder in barn, together with driv.
or for each team.
Labor accomplished by machine and
force above mentioned: The corn is not
only shucked, but is brought from the
field, the ears are housed and fodder
put in barn. If buildings are well ar.
ranged one man will store the fodder.
while the corn may be dropped directly
into the crib. By actual timing. our
machine medium size) husked from 90
to "a bushels--of 70 pounds-per hour.
The yield was not more than 25 bushels
| per acre.
Quality of work done: Occasionally
: an ear will pass through the machine
and the husks remain. but if properly
adjusted these will be few. The an.
appearance of the corn is better than
when husked by hand. A small
amount of grain will be shelled by the
screws. although probably but little
more than husking pin. And in any
event the shelled kernels will drop
into the fodder and be carried up with
it, to be afterward fed to the cattle.
AS we have intimated before, we val.
ne the machine particularly for the i'm.
proved condition in which it leaves the
fodder Cattle will eat a much larger
amount than when it is prepared by
the usual methods. With Us. at least.
it doubles the value of this portion of
the plant
We know that some people have
trouble in keeping the fodder passed
through the machine, bat our has come
out in perfect condition, az fresh AZ
when first put in.
This machine has been on the market
but short time, and consequently. as
is the case with most new machines,
some parts require adjusting Changes
made during the past year have already
greatly improved it.
'The farmers Of Virginia will, in our
opinion, do well to watch these imple.