214 Journal of Agriculture. [ii April, 1910. 



any, waste when the silage is properly made. He considers the time is 

 rapidly approaching when the silo will be considered as indispensable on the 

 dairy farm as the chaffcutter or the plough. 



BERWICK FODDER CROP COMPETITION. 



/. S. McFadsean, Dairy Supervisor. 



Following on an application received from the Mornington Farmers' 

 Society I judged the Fodder Crop Competition held under its auspices. 

 The competition was for the best five acres, cropped with four acres of 

 maize and one acre of pumpkins. Messrs. Wanke and Kirkham, both of 

 Narre Warren, were the only competitors, the first-named being awarded 

 the prize offered. 



Mr. Wanke' s crop was on a creek flat; the soil being a dark loam of 

 good quality. Rather more than half of his four acres of maize was sown 

 with Sydney Flat Red seed at the end of September. The balance was 

 put in about two weeks later; about a quarter of it being with Flat Red 

 seed, and the remainder with Hickory King, the latter variety making 

 rather the better growth. The earlier sowing was about seven feet high 

 when seen; and was estimated to cut about 14 tons 11 cwt. per acre of 

 green fodder. The later sowing was about 4I to 5 feet high, and would 

 then cut about 1 1 tons 8f cwt. per acre. The earlier sown crop had 

 flowered, and was beginning to go off in colour, but the second sowing was 

 in full growth. Both had been .sown rather heavily ; which, as well 

 as being a waste of seed, prevented a proportion of the stalks from 

 making their proper development. The crop was in rows three feet apart, 

 and the inter-cultivation had been fairly well attended to. No care, how- 

 ever, had been given to clearing the weeds from the headlands or among 

 the maize in the rows. Neglect of these items means a loss of points in 

 such competitions, for one of the objects of drill-sowing maize in rich 

 ground is to enable the land to be cleared of weeds ; and a weed-fouled 

 crop is not indicative of careful farming. 



A mixed fertilizer had been used over the most part of the land ; but a 

 few rows of the earlier sown crop had been put in with stable manure 

 below it in the furrows. These rows made exceptionally good growth at 

 first, but during the late spell of dry weather this part of the crop went 

 off in colour very fast, and, at time of judging (28th February), it had 

 stopped growing altogether. The mistake made here was in not having 

 the ground manured earlier, so as to allow the coarser material to rot before 

 the seed was sown. Had there been more rain, in all probability this part 

 would have more than held its own to the finish. But, under drv weather 

 conditions, the efi'ect of the unrotted manure was to keep the soil excessively 

 loose, and allow the moisture to drv from it ; and the maize plants conse- 

 quently suffered. The same condition sometimes obtains on fresh stubble 

 land turned down and sown in the earlv summer ; when, if there is not a 

 sufiiciency of rain to assist in rotting down the dry stalks and roots, the 

 young crop on it will make little headway. 



The acre of pumpkins on this farm was a mixed seeding, including a 

 majority of Mammoth and Ironbark. They were sown in rows five yards 

 apart, with rows of maize between to shelter and hold the vines. The 



