I-O 



82 Grasses and Leguminous Crops in New York 



corn is most desirable. The drills should be three to four feet 

 apart, the plants one foot apart in the row. It is sometimes ad- 

 vised to make the drills five feet apart and the hills three feet 

 apart in the row, three or four seeds being planted in each hill. 

 The richer the land the farther apart should the seeds be planted. 

 One to three pounds of seed per acre is used, depending on the 

 method of planting ; usually one pound per acre is sufficient. The 

 seed is rather expensive, and must be purchased each year. 



The crop is given much the same cultivation as corn, and is 

 fertilized as for corn or sorghum. 



Harvesting and Yield 



Teosinte is seldom used in any way except as a soiling crop. 

 Its great succulence and the fact that it is usually grown where 

 their is much rain renders it nearly impossible to cure it for 

 fodder. It has occasionally been ensiled and is said to make 

 a fair quality of silage. When used as a soiling crop, it furnishes 

 several cuttings during the season. It is best cut when four or 

 five feet high, as it becomes less palatable if allowed to mature 

 much beyond this. When grown for fodder it may be cut late 

 in the season, and the amount of feed secured will be practically 

 as great as that secured by cutting it several times during the 

 season. 



Although teosinte has been known for a long time, it has almost 

 no standing as a farm crop in this country. It is utterly useless 

 to plant it on any except moist, rich soil, and such soil is not 

 common in the section where it is grown. The fact that prac- 

 tically its sole use is for soiling purposes greatly limits its useful- 

 ness as a farm crop. 



Literature. Farmers' Bulletin No. 102, United States Department of Agriculture; Kansas 

 Experiment Station, Bulletin No. 123; Florida Experiment Station, Bulletin No. 78. 



