Late 19th to Early 20th Century Corn Stalk Cutter

 Following past information reported to the museum, we identify this item as a corn stalk cutter. According to the museum's source, Lambert J. Poels, this device was homemade, built around 1890. According to information recorded from Mr. Poels, "this machine is a homemade implement for cutting standing cornstalks, when a farmer could foresee no ear corn production from his field." Referred to by Mr. Poels as a "fodder sled," it "was a way to salvage the corn stalks for 'roughage'," that is, for feed or fodder for the farmer's livestock. The salvaged corn stalks were run through a feed grinder, or buhr mill, like the Letz mills in this exhibit, which ground the roughage into small pieces for livestock to eat. In some cases, farmers might have intentionally left parts of their fields unharvested, processing the entire plant, stalk and ear, for livestock feed.