The Bamberg herald. [volume] (Bamberg, S.C.) 1891-1972, 1909-09-09
ABOUT CORN.
Information Which Will be of Much
Value and Benefit.

Information Which Will be OF Much
Value and Benefit.
The harvesting of any crop which
occupies so large place in our ag-
riculture as corn does is an impor-
tant question. We have no desire to
be dogmatic or to insist on any par
ticular method Of harvesting THIS
crop, but we do wish our readers
to study the problem we'll and care
fully that they may harvest their
corn in way that will enable then!
to increase its net value.
To pull the fodder or leaves
and house them, and then later TO
pull the ears and house them also,
| and then later to shuck the corn re
fore feeding and dispose OF the
stalks in the field in such a manner
as to prevent their interfering with
the cultivating Of succeeding crops re-
uuires considerable labor, and we are
satisfied the results do not justify
the labor and expense involved.
If we had sufficient long forage;
that is, if we did not buy hay, We
might adopt the plan, so largely FOL
lowed in the Northern corn belt,
of pulling and shucking the field and
then running stock in the stalk helds
to gather what feed they may; out
this wasteful practice is followed
less each year, even in the hay grow
ing states, and is not at all accep-
table under our conditions. There
is valuable feed in the corn stover,
and while the feed is scarce with us
we cannot afford to neglect this
cheap means of supplementing our
usually short supply of other long
forage.
TO cut the corn and shock it and
later haul it to the barn is heavy
work little relished by Southern
farmers. 1t is not harder nor more
disagreeabie work than pulling fod-
der. but we have been doing the
latter so long that We have become
accustomed to it, while the former IS
new and harder because it is new.
As labor becomes more scarce our
field must be cleared up and maze
suitable for the use OF machinery;
then the corn harvester will come IN
to do the work that must now be
done by hand.
TO husk the corn and put the
stover in the best condition for feed
ing, is also work which must be done
bv machinery. The husker and
shredder is already made and ex-
tensively used for this purpose;
but it is not in general use because
of tire cost of the machine and the
expense of providing the power to
run it. A good shredder costs
around 5000 and gasoline engine
to run it not far from S4OO. These
items constitute a real obstacle to
the use of the shredder; but if the
husking and shredding of the cc:n
crop is the best way of handling 1t,
the means must and will be provided.
If a man has 25 acres of corn
that will average 25 bushels to the
acre, he can afford to buy shred
der and if he has 100 acres, be can
afford to buy the power to run the
shredder, for the same engine may
be used for other farm purposes.
Of course, it is plain that many farm
ers cannot afford to own shredder
and provide the power to run it:
but if one man with iG0 acres of
corn can afford to provide the neces-
sary machinery, then s, 3 or 10 men
whose combined crop amounts to 100
or more acres can afford to COM
bine and purchase the needed ma
chinery. A shredder will do the work
for much larger area, and this is
the sort of cooperation that will pay.
Few small wheat farmers own
their own threshing machines, yet
all of them get their wheat thresh-
ed. Where there is demand for
shredders it will be supplied in the
same way as is the demand for grain
threshers.
Any farmer can figure out what
it costs him per acre to pull the
fodder yielding say 25 bushels Of
corn. He may get 500 pounds of
fodder and the corn must later be
gathered. Compare what it costs to
harvest the crop in that way with
the cost of cutting, shocking and
shredding. To cut, shock, haul to the
barn and shred an acre of corn will
not cost far from 81. This will in
clude labor and wear and tear on
machinery, and the corn will be
husked and put in the crib and the
stover torn into shreds and blown
! into the barn or to stack.
An average acre of such corn in
the South will give them to l IL
tons of stover. This makes the shred
ded stover cost about So ton with
the harvesting of the crop thrown
| in.
What is this stover worth for
feed? One ton is as good as ton of
cotton seed hulls and II to tons
are equal to a ton of good grass
hay. We pay from $40 to $40 ton
for hay-will it pay to expend SO or
81 to get our cotton crops harvested
and save e ton of stover which we
have already grown? Shredded corn
stover is worth IS for feeding beef
cattle and sells for double that price
where hay is not grown to supply
the local demand. Shredded corn
stover is not the best long forage,
but it is better than none. We have
never known man who shredded his
stover to be out of long forage for