MAIZE GROWING.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1267, 24 October 1911, Page 8

MAIZE GROWING.

SOWING AND MANURING. Some suggestions as to sowing antlmanurtnit maize am rut forward by Mr. J. G. Wilson, president 01 , the Farmers Union Conference, in a further article published in the Fnion "Advocate. II i* needless -ays Mr. Wilson, to speak ot tho soils thai suit maize as everyone knows that it likes rich, deep, alluvial toil, like- most plants, but we have not all cot such land, and after feeing u grow on other soils-Hie fairly hsht land at Vvereron, the hard loam at Marton and my out. garden foil, which if of'ii "clayey nature-it would seom that it will grow on most soils. Clim.ile is n thing that requires experience and experiment. Selection and Breeding. It seems now to be certain that the area of the growth •of a plant, can be much extended by selection and breeding of varieties suitable to the climate, therefore, experiment as to climate and varieties, must he made before any opinion can bo given. Mr. Baylis, who was some years in South Africa experimenting for the Government there, tells me that South Africa now exports maize, largely due to the faot of having varieties suitable for each district: and soils. The length of time it takes to mature there is also largely a question of variety, which, he lays, "varies from fifty days, in some of the. dwarf varieties, which are the earliest, to'six or seven months, in the late varieties, which are generally the heaviest yiehlers. It would be useless for me to say anything of the cultivation roriuirorl, to farmers who have for more than a generation trade their living by tilling the sail. They know bettor ■ than I do the necessity for clean, well pulverised soil. The time for sowing maize is from October 1 in the early districts, to the end of .November'in the late districts, and as early, as possible when risks of frosts are over, is usually the best indication. Sowing tho Seed. There are several ways of sowing, from tho.rough process of laying .the seed on the ground and plo'ugliicg it lightly in,. I or like potatoes, planting it on the side, of a furrow and covering it with the nest, to the most elaborate way of sowing in drills or furrows, and so arranging the drill to drop the seed, so that like fruit trees, the cultivator, can be. used both ways. To sow for lamb feeding, however, this would be time and money wasted. With clean soil the first experiment may easily bo made broad-cast; but this method presupposes that, to he successful the land is very fertile, and in gcod order. The best general method is to drill with some manure the same way as peas are sown (sowing about one inch in depth). 1 sowed mine, in the garden, in two seveninch rows together, and then about twenty-four inches between, so as to allow for hoeing. On ths plots at Marton, the space between ths double rows was about" twenty-eight inches. Mr. Baylis says:—"Growing for ensilage, or green feed, continuous sowing in single or double seven inch drills, E-onio twenty-eight inches or threo feet apart, is usually the best method. Single drills, twenty-eight inches apart, would require about one and a quarter to one and three-quarters bushels of seed (about 5G pounds to the bushel) ta the acre. Double rows of seven inch drills, twenty-eight

inches apart, require from one and threequarters to two and a quarter bushels of seed, according to variety of maize- sown, and condition of t'iltb. The aim sh-culd be to hav-e as many cobs consistent with larje yield and tender stalk?. On clean land double drills give the heaviest crop, allowing more room to each plant, and greater development of coh.=. On weedy land single drills are prefd'able." "Broad-casting is Wasteful." Broad-casting ho considers as.wasteful, as it requires three or four tiinM as much seed, much remaining uncovero.d, and all at different depths, and it would r-cquiro four or five bushels of seed of the dwarf varieties to sow an acre, or thre? to three and a half bushels of the lai-jjer varieties. To recommend manure is always a dangerous thing, becauso so many thiiißS have to to taken iuto consideration, the soil, situation, etc., but the following is suggested for a trial:—Super. 30i)'iVj., boiiemcal 50!1i.. sulphate of ammonia 501b, sulphate of potash nOib., blcod 50!b., using from 1501b. to 20fib. per acre. Tiiis is an expensive manure, and other fertilising mixtures may, of course, he tried, as in the casb of other crops, to find what is most suittd to the soil, climate, economic result and packet. The question of seed growing is of imrortuucß if inaizo growing is successful tor feeding lambs. To grow pure seed thero must bo no other variety within 500 yards. It would, therefore, pay. if the variety for use which is found to best suit conditions required, for it to bi> specially grown by ono farmer for seed piirpnses, h> that th-o purity of soed would be undoubted. Thero would, therefore, have to be some Med growers' association, one member being sehcted to grow seed for all, and all the seed be purcha-ttl from him. This has succeeded iu ovfry instanc-e whore it has been tried. Peas as a Forage Crop. There is another forage crop which I am sure could bo tried with advantage, viz., peas. Peas are easily grown on most lauds and it has been proved, in the United States that lambs can be fattened quite well by simply turning them into tho peas when ripe, and ready for eating. They havo the additional advantage of being a leguminous crop, and thus assist in collecting their nitrogen from the air. I would-suggest, therefore, that some experiments be made with neas. I a:n myself having a few bushels sown just to make a trial. Judging by what i havo seen of mixed forage—peas and maize, I think it would be a' good thing to try an acre or two. just to see the result. In the same paddock some of this mixed forage is being grown at Marton for ensilage making.