CULIXJRE OF MAIZE 22$ 



(obtained by leaving four stalks in hills three feet nine inches 

 apart each way, or 12,960 stalks per acre, while on poor land 

 the largest yield, thirt}'-six bushels, was from two stalks per hill, 

 or 6,480 stalks per acre. 



For the principal maize belt, planting at the rate of one grain 

 eveiy twelve inches, or approximately four grains per hill in 

 rows three feet eight inches apart, has given the best results 

 where only grain is desired ; at the rate of one grain every nine 

 inches where both grain and stover are desired, the grain being 

 considered the principal product, and at the rate of one grain 

 ever}' six inches where it is planted for silage or where maize 

 fodder is to be fed without husking. Where maize is intended 

 for soiling to be fed early in the season before ears have 

 been formed, the planting should be at the rate of one grain 

 every three inches, as the development of the individual plant 

 is not seriously retarded by this thicker planting up to this 

 period of gro^^th. These general relationships will probably 

 hold for regions further north or south, but the absolute rate 

 will var}'. 



304. Influence of Rate of Seeding Upon Composition. — An- 

 alyses show that when there is no greater variation in rate of 

 planting than that of one grain every six to twelve inches that 

 there is no material difference in the composition of the fodder, 

 but where excessive amounts of seed are planted the protein is 

 materially decreased, and the percentage of crude fiber consid* 

 erably increased. 



At the Connecticut Station,! -n-ith flint and dent maize planted at six rates of 

 seeding van-ing from 2,720 to 87,040 plants per acre, the per cent of ash and pro 

 tein (XX6.25) vras greatest when the stand of maize w-as thinnest, and decreased 

 regularly up to the thickest planting. This difference -vs-as small in the ash bu? 

 large in the protein. The per cent of fiber \v-as greatest in the thickest planting 

 but the relation between the per cent of fiber and the rate of seeding \\-as not en- 

 tirely uniform. In both varieties the percentage of nitrogen-free extract was 

 greatest when there were 21,760 plants per acre. In both varieties, that thickness 

 which gave the largest yield of drj' matter also gave the greatest yield ot nutrients, 



I Conn. Rpt. iSgg, p. g. 



