A REVOLUTION IN CORN-GROWING 79 



plant persists in its original tendency to flower and 

 seed, and is convertible into a " biennial." 



This phenomenon is familiar to most farmers in 

 the case of annual grasses like Italian rye-grass, 

 which if grazed, instead of being mown, and thus 

 prevented from reaching the seeding stage, will 

 continue to grow for several years. 



The fact that an annual plant is convertible into 

 a biennial is one well-known to anyone who has even 

 a very elementary knowledge of botany. But, 

 strange as it may appear, — Agriculture can furnish 

 many such anomalies — no previous effort has been 

 made to turn this elementary scientific fact to 

 practical use. Yet the possibilities in the direction 

 indicated, as will be seen later, are tremendous. 



As regards corn-growing, this phenomenon of 

 second growth can be made of the greatest possible 

 utility. It enables the farmer to spread out the 

 labour of land cultivation, the sowing and harvesting 

 of his crops over a very considerably extended period, 

 and, as will be readily understood by the practical 

 man, permits the subsequent cultivation and cropping 

 of his corn stubbles to be spread out instead of being 

 confined to two brief and uncertain periods in winter 

 and spring, when weather conditions are in most 

 cases decidedly against tillage operations on an 

 extended scale. 



This new system briefly consists of sowing a 

 portion, at least, of the corn break in the previous 

 summer, and other portions in early and late autumn, 

 instead of sowing all the corn in winter and spring. 

 When the corn is sown at the different times specified, 

 the crops ripen at different intervals. Hence, in 

 actual practice, this system means a corn harvest 

 extending over six to eight loeeks, instead of being 

 confined, as is often the case, to a few days. 



