Meade County news., 1917-01-18

in the field until February or March
exposed to the winds and rains of win
ter, it Is questionable whether Its
feeding value is equal to the cost OF
cutting and shocking.
Storing Ears Unhusked.
Jerking the ears and storing them
unhusked Is q method of harvesting
employed in some sections, especially
in the South, where the argument usu-
ally given in its favor is that If the
husks are on the ears they are more
protected from the grain weevil. The
destruction of corn by this insect Is
one of the drawbacks to more exten-
sive corn culture in the South. AS soon
as the corn becomes dry enough to
crib, weevils are frequently found
working under the husks on the ker-
nels Of the ears, sometimes to the
number of 20 or more to the ear. 1t
Is question whether the corn Is more
seriously injured by transferring the
weevil with the unhusked ears to the
crib than would result were the corn
husked in the field, causing the weevils
to drop to the ground and thereby
leaving most of them in the field.
The total amount of work required
to jerk the corn and afterwards husk
1t is considerably greater than that re-
qdired to husk 1t directly from the
standing stalk, and the quantity of
forage obtained by gathering the husks
Is not sufficient to pay for the extra
work. Much better forage could be
obtained more cheaply by other meth
DDS. If the husks are sold advantage
ously for mattress making 1t is well
to perform the interpretations of jerk
ing the ears and afterwards husking
them in q manner that will furnish
husks of good quality. The proper
tion of husk varies greatly among the
different kinds of corn, but it Is suffi-
cient to say that it requires fully one
half more room to store the ears un-
husked than husked.
Binders.
The corn binder with bundle carrier
is satisfactorily used in cutting corn
Of average or small size on land that
is not very steep or stumpy. On the
comparatively level prairie land of the
north central states the corn binder Is
very generally used in cutting and
shocking corn. In light corn or on
level land two horses will suffice, but
for faster work or heavy corn the use
of three or four horses Is much more
satisfactory. Three men, one to run
the binder and two to shock, and two
teams can cut and shock about seven
acres of corn a day. However, condi-
tions vary to such an extent regarding
the weight of the corn crop, the lay of
the land, etc, that it is impossible to
give figures that will apply to all
cases. In sections where the corn
binder is successfully used the princi-
pal objections to its use are the cost
of twine which remains upon the fod-
der but short time, and the knocking
off of ears in the process Of binding.
In almost all cases the quantity of
corn knocked off by the binder is great
enough to warrant driving q wagon
over the field and gathering the ears
from the ground after the corn Is cut
and shocked. This is necessary, be-
cause the presence of the shocks in
the field prevents the turning in Of
hogs or cattle to gather up the ears
knocked off by the binder.
huskers and Shredders.
The use of shredding machines Is
quite general in many cOrn-grOwing
sections. Sometimes the machines are
used for shredding the stover after
the ears have been husked from the
shocks by hand, and in other cases
both the husking and shredding are
done by the machine. The shredding
of the stOver puts it in a more com,
pact form for storing and a more con-
venient form for feeding and avoids
the troublesome work OF handling ma
nure in which there are long coarse
cornstalks. Shredded stover is fed
with much less waste than stover in
any other condition. 1t has been esti-
mated that shredded stover will go 40
per cent further in feeding cattle than
the whole stalks and considerably fur
ther than when the stalks are put
through feed cutter. AS there are
shredders of varying capacities,
farmer may purchase a machine suited
to the quantity Of work to be per-
formed, or number of farmers in a
community may own machine Jointly.
Shredding fodder by the acre and
shredding and husking by the bushel
are common in many sections where
crews operate huskers and shredders
and travel from farm to farm.