Journal of Agriculture 



[lo June. 1910.- 



A good portion ol' the maize land 

 was sown on the broadcast system, 

 and on the lowerdying places it 

 made \ery rank growth, running to 

 12 feet high, and weighing up to 

 nearlv 31 tons per acre. On other 

 [jarts. however, the yield would not 

 ije more than half this and in places 

 it was very short. It was sown at 

 the rate of about zh bushels to the 

 acre, and the stalks were conse- 

 quentlv too close wherever there had 

 been even fair germination. Where 

 the growth was heaviest the stalks 

 w^ere very fine, and sparsely cobbed, 

 weighing only about f lbs. each on 

 the average. In the drilled sowings, 

 on the other hand, the stalks were 

 very well cobbed, and averaged 

 about 2;i lbs. each. 



From Warburton to here, the- 

 Varra flows for some 25 miles or 

 more through first class river flat lanfl 

 that is capable of being made very 

 productive by cultivation ; but so far 

 very little of it has been broken up. 

 Here and there may be seen a fevv 

 acres sown with a Ijroadcast crop of 

 maize, which gives a good bulk of 

 fodder if there is a favourable rain- 

 fall, and very little otherwise. It is 

 quite a rarity to see a good even 

 crop, such as results from a proper^ 

 svstem of sowing and cultivation. 

 Hundreds of acres of the.se flats are 

 within a few chains of a first class 

 water supplv that could be u.sed for 

 irrigation, yet they lie there unim- 

 pro\ed, co\'ered with scrub and tus- 

 socks, harbouring snakes, rabbits, 

 and foxes, and keeping a compara- 

 tivelv small number of cows in milk 

 for six or se\en months of the year. 

 Very few owners indeed are making 

 any effort towards bringing this valu- 

 able land under cultivation. Many 

 are doing ab.solutelv nothing. Un- 

 questionably, it must be good coun- 

 ■ try where dairy-farming can be made 

 so profitable that the advantages of 

 ])ossessing good cultivatable and 

 irrigable land can be .so completely 

 ignored. 



(4) On pages 395 and 396 are shown 

 photographs of maize and potato 



