Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1912-01-19
ADDING MILLIONS TO THE CORN CROP
The Easy Harvesting of Americas Great Annual Corn Crop
Made Possible by Wonderful Machinery

the poison to adhere to tine blade. Pre-
pare the bait in sufficient quantity be-
fore going to the field
Whatever sort of bait may be used
success depends upon introducing it into
fresh runways. Choose fresh-lookIng
mounds and prod into the line between
them with a wagon rod or sharpened
broom handle to locate the runway; or.
failing there, prod about the freshest
mounds. The sudden giving of the soil
and the apparent looseness of the stick
in IT is sufficient to sho what the run
way has been located Remove the
prod and drop a teaspoonful Of the poi
soned bait into the burrow. leaving the
hole open. Level the mounds with some
sort Of a drag, and as soon as new ones
appear locate the burrows and put
poison into them.
In case the area to be treated is large
some sort of a special instrument for 10
eating the runways is desirable very
good one can be made from a spade
handle by covering the pointed end
with iron and fastening foot-rest about
10 inches above the point
By the use Of the means Just describ-
ed the enterprising farmer can rid his
land OF gophers and keep them out of
il. Once the farm is freed. the vigi-
lance and prompt treatment necessary
TO Keep it so win require but little time
and effort.
After the fodder leaves the swapping
rows 1t comes into contacs with a
shredder-head. which tears IT into fine
/ bits, and 1t is then blown into the barn
or wherever it is wanted f0B storage.
Careful Investigations NOT only bv
the government, but by many of the
state experiment stations, show thar
corn can be handled more cheaply BY
the use of machinery than by hand.
There are several kinds of c,rn-binty-
ers, and while each KIM NAV have its
special advantages, there are some
points that should be particularly OBJ
served in the selection of the machine.
With a machine in which the bum
dies OF corn are bound vile in a horl-
zontal position there is usually mors
or less trouble from the bundles Iatch-
ing on the stubble and being torn apart,
short iron rod on each of the divid-
ers helps to keep the binding gear from
! being choked. A machins which has
two needles does not nee1 to raise the
| corn so high, hence less power is fe-
CURED to run it. A very handy attach
ment is a knife that cuts the stubbls
close to the ground. thus making fur
Their operations on the same ground
more convenient
/
husking the ears and leaving the stalks
which contain over 40 per cent of tho
total feeding value of the corn crop
/ in the field to decay, is entirely too
wasteful and must give way to Tnors
intensive methods.
This means of course that some kind
Of a modern corn harvester must be
used. so the corn binder has become
a permanent fixture on a large number
of well managed farms throughout the
corn belt.
In hauling corn fodder from the field
to the shredder or wherever IL is de-
| sired. low-wheeled wagons are hest.
| These have a platform extending out
over the wheels, and the corn is easily
loaded and un1Oaded and much can be
hauled at a time.
An Ohio farmer, writing of the con.
veniences of the modern corn huske-.
says: Last year 1 had 1000 bushels OF
corn in shocks. I hired a man to
come to the field and husk it. havs
team Of my own with which / cribbed
the corn, hauling from % to so bushels
at a load. ] arranged with six of my
neighbors to haul up the corn and fod-
der. 1t took four men to load the corn
on the wagons in the field and we had
/ two men to three wagons. / paid for
the husking and four men, but their
work put all of the corn in the cri', and
all of my shredded fodder in the barn.
It took me just a week to clean up my
entire corn crop in better shape than
could have done it by hand, using my
two men, and myself. in a month.