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The writer is well aware that this branch of agriculture is not 

 atti-active to planters as a class, but this is, in all pi'obability, due to 

 the all absorbing interest of rubber cultivation i*ather than to the 

 knowledge gained from practical experience, as to the possibilities of 

 such crops. I 



I now propose to deal briefly with a number of food-producing 

 plants which can be recommended if immediate production of food- 

 stuffs is required. 



Maize. 



This cereal is of great value as an article of human food. The 

 ripe grain is used for the production of flour and meal. The green 

 cobs form an excellent vegetable. In rubber or coconut clearings, 

 not exceeding two years old, I see no special objection to the 

 cultivation of this cereal. Hickory King and a red grained Malay 

 variety have given fairly good results here, but I do not think it can 

 be expected that our yields will equal that of India or Ceylon. 

 Maize requires moderately rich soils and may be grown two or three 

 successive seasons on the same plot. In this country it probably 

 does best in land recently brought under cultivation which has a 

 good propoi'tion of humus in the soil and is friable in nature. Poor 

 soils, stiff clays and sour lands are undesirable. A thorough 

 preparation of the land is considered essential for the production 

 of large maize crops but with virgin land, as it would be 

 mostly grown on here, this is not so necessary, at least for 

 the first few crops. The land may be changkolled or forked 

 to a depth of a few inches and the seed sown broadcast, after 

 i-ain, on a well prepared surface, at the rate of 10 to 15 lbs. 

 per acre, as a sole crop, and lightly turned under ; a fine 

 surface tilth is of primary importance. The seed may also be 

 dibbled in at distances of 6 inches in rows which are 3 feet apart 

 and thinned out, when the plants are well established, to 12 inches 

 in the row. Surface weeding is continued and care taken not to 

 disturb or bi*eak ofE any of the roots. Weeding might be done, during 

 the time the crop is on the land, slightly deeper than is usual, 

 in order to retard soil evaporation. The crop takes three to six 

 months to mature depending on the variety and the conditions under 

 which it is grown. If the cobs are required as a vegetable they are 

 pulled while green, otherwise the cobs are left until the leaves 

 surrounding them become shrivelled. Proper drying and storage of 

 the freshly harvested crop are of very great importance as the seeds 

 are most liable to weevil attacks. 



In sevei"al respects maize lends itself as a catch-ci'op. In the 

 first place it is an annual, which occupies the land for a few months 

 only, and this is an important attribute as an intercrop with young 

 rubber. It is possible to continue the oi-dinary estate weeding and 

 permits of periodic deep cultivation if required. The remaining 

 stubble when changkolled into the land would impi-ove considerably 



