lo April, 1909.] Maize Growing for Milk Production. 



209 



as peas, vetches, or clovers. Commercial fertilizers are always of value, 

 in that they supply available plant food but they will not take the place 

 of farm yard manure because they do not add vegetable matter to form 

 humus and therebv improve the physical condition of the soil. They 

 ■can, however, be successfully used at the time of seeding, in conjunction 

 with farm yard manure, to furnish the mineral elements — phosphorus and 

 potassium — and to supplv a greater abundance of plant food for the 

 crop while young and tender. It has come under my notice that when- 

 ever the farmer applies a large amount of farm yard manure, and goes 

 in for green manuring, his crops are the heaviest and the land is im- 

 proved in texture. 



8. GENERAL VIEW OF MR. WILLIAM YOUNG S 3-ACRE PLOT. 



Mr. Young's plot of 3 acres contained the following varieties : — 

 Hickory King, Sibley, White Horse Tooth, Early Leaming, Eclipse, 

 Funk's Yellow Dent, Pride of the North, Boone Countv Special, and 

 Yellow Aloruva. These varieties were sown in drills 3 feet apart and 

 4 inches deep on the 14th October, 1908, and nearly all germinated by 

 the 2ist of that month. 



Preparation of Seed Bed. 



The soil is a dark sandy loam for about 4 feet deep wath a sticky 

 whitish gravel subsoil and a westerly aspect on a sloping hill. Early 

 in October, a very heavy crop of oats was taken off the land which was 

 at once ploughed 8 inches deep, and then harrowed and cross harrowed. 

 It was cross ploughed in a fortnight's time and harrowed twice again. 

 Mr. Young is a great believer in a thoroughly prepared seed bed. To 

 thoroughly pulverize the soil is the proper work of the plough, and whe- 

 ther the ploughing be deep or shallow, the more thoroughly the portion 

 turned is pulverized the better it will be. The object of this breaking 

 down of the soil into fine particles is to give the rootlets of the plants 

 an opportunity to anchor themselves in the soil and get the abundant 

 nutriment necessary for the full development of the plant. If the land is 



