FARMING AND COMMERCAIL.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1288, 17 November 1911, Page 8

FARMING AND COMMERCAIL.

MAIZE GROWING. STUD SEED AND EXPERIMENTS. Further light on the interesting topic of maize-growing is thrown in another nrticlo contributed to tho "Farmers' Tjnion. Advocate" by Mr. ,T. G. Wilson, president 'of tho Dominion Conference. Mr. Wilson says:—l might add, io wlnt I hare already said on this subject, that, •maize, has ..one great .advantage. If tco much is grown for forage, it can be cheaply and expeditiously turned into ensilage, by cutting and stacking it green. Mr. Dibble, of the Agricultural Department, who has for many years made ensilage, has written a . very useful paper no' this subject, and it is published ns a bulletin. . . . Last year ho spent sonto time amongst the fanners in Taranaki, giving them information on tho subject, and at the last Hawera show there were in consequence rip fewer than thirty-four <Miibits of ensilage. Ensilage has beeii made, hitherto, mostly for dairy cows, tut sheep eat it roadily, and in ilawko's Bay it has been used for tho purpose. .Ensilage as a Standby. Mr. Dibble gave a very interesting lecture on this subject before tho- Sandon branch of tho Farmers' Union, and an experiment is to bo tried at the Martcm experimental plots this year, and a demonstration given in stacking. I feel eure, in the ■ variable climate we have on" tho West Coast, an ensilage slack will yet 1)0 made as a standby on nearly every farm. It con be made in all weathers, and keeps an indefinite term, aud can be used cither as a summer or winter feed. To make hay on this (West) coast m any quantity is alniost impossible; our spring weather is so changeable and rain so frequently interferes at hay time. . . . I way here give a little later information, just to hand in tho "N.S.W. Agricultural Gazette" for October. The. manager ot the Grafton- Experimental Farm (in the •north of New South Wales, 300 degrees lit, so much warmer than wo are, but where they get almost tropical rains which reduce tho temperature), fays, tinder the heading of varieties. 'Maize is a plant which is easily cross-fertilised, arid it is difficult to keep the varieties pure, whifo different varieties are grown in the-same district, particularly, those which flower at.the same time. It would b'o a most decided advance if all . the farmers of this district would agree to grow only tw;o varieties of maize— : one early and one' late. Tho two most.suitable varieties should bo chosen, and improved by selection of seed." Speaking of his experience as to thedifferent varieties ho ' says.:—"lmproved Yellow Dent—an flcclimatiseil variety which has been grown on this farm for tho past five years, and has given consistent yields every year. It is also a hardy variety, and "one outstanding feature is that ..it bfands a lot of rain at harvest time. It is also an all-round variety, being suitable ibr fodder and pain, and has a wide adaptation. Good reports havo been received from all parts ofl the- State, where, it has been tried against other varieties. Tho grain has a high .'percentage of protein. (This is the variety which did so well at Moumahaki.) 'Early Lambing.—Of all the early varieJiics tried here none has come near this in yield. It is wonderfully adapted to different foils and climates, and is extremely hardy." (This variety did not do so "well , as'several others at" Moumahaki.) Of the Horse-tooth (largo and small), ho. has-discontinued growing. "Hickory King.—A variety grown largeJy for fodder. It is adapted to poor classes of soil. . Its chief characteristic is the very low percentage of cob, and large broad kernel, which bto somewhat of a flinty" nature. It is an early variety hut not, a very heavy yielder in grain per acre. ' "Boone County White.—lt is a heavy yielder, but a soft variety. It is early maturing, but not too well protected by (ho husk at tl>o top of the ear, henco the ear is liable to moulds, and inroads of insects. It is preferablo to harvest a maizo 'of this description a littlo on the. green side." (This variety seems the most generally grown of any in the States.) ■

The Stud Plots. Under the heading of "Tho Stud Plots," ho gives some interesting information- as to now the seed.is kept pure. "A brief account of tlio work in the stud'maize plots at the farm may prove a fitting conclusion to theso notes. The best cobs are first selected for seed, and the kernels picked from the centre of the cob, not from towards either end. It is not definitely established that the centre eives the- better seed, but it is certainly more uniform and easier to plant. We also consider how the cob is placed on the stalk. Select those of medium length of shank, and generally choose cobs which, .is. nearly as possible, represent perfect stilks. Barren stalks are "cut out before tbe.y .shed their pollen.. Tbeso selected giains are grown by inter-row system, aiming at tho T>i"iv?nti"'i «" -•-'-■-•■■•...

and at the samo tirn<s preserving the purity of' the variety. '.uie ins. .u, '-.».i----tains all grains * from M:e : >ama. cob, whilst the second. is all from another Mil) of. the same varicl.y,. and ?o on. As soon as the. tas.-els appear (hey are pulled off by.hand from every plant in everysecond row. Tho barren stalks in the other rows ai-3 also detasselated at the Jains.timo. TJio row which, is dctasscl.ited thus carries all female flowers which must b'c fertilised by pollen from the adjacent rows. The cubs formed on these female vows are the stud seed. The other rows may bo Mlf-ferlilisecl, and so the produce- :s used for horso feed, or in other, ways.

."The stud send, thus produced, is used for planting our commercial maize paddocks, and .the best produce from theso agaiu selected for sale to farmers for feed. It .would bn . impossible to raise «iny considerable'quantity from stud plots direct: in fact, it is only now that we are able fo raise sufficient to sow. our own paddqck.s. This .will, however, l>B the invariable '.practice for tho future, so that formers buying seed maize, from the farm, will be. sure of Rettintr seed which cannot be inbred for more than one generation.

"Thus it will be-, μ-mi whr.t a. multitude of experiments can bs carried out on the farm, which I am , glad to ?oe the Minister for Agriculture has announced is to bo purchased in the Smith bland. I congrarnlite our southern friends upon having got so far. It must be of great benefit to the farming cnmniumry, and I hope they will make a mint, of visiting it, and thus encouraging the workers on"it, more than is often dono with us."

HEWB AMD NOTES.