30 FODDER AND PASTURE PLANTS. 



out. The seeding should be done in the early spring, and, if the land 

 is dry enough, a sharp harrow, followed by a heavy roller, may be 

 used to cover the seed and secure a smooth surface. 



Hillsides and exposed places in newly-seeded as well as long- 

 standing meadows and pastures often need renovating and re-seeding 

 after a severe winter. A liberal re-seeding followed by the harrow 

 or roller, or both, usually gives satisfactory results. If the soil on 

 the re-seeded patches is apt to become hard and baked, a light dressing 

 of well-rotted stable manure is necessary to insure a good catch. 



Both new and old meadows are benefited by spring rolling, 

 especially if they have been repeatedly frozen and thawed during 

 the early spring. 



CORN (Zea Mays L.) 



Other English names: Indian Corn, Maize. 



Botanical description: Corn is one of the tallest and most 

 vigorous of the annual grasses. The stems, which vary in height 

 in different types and varieties, are solid, whereas in most other grasses 

 they are hollow. The leaves are long and broad, wavy and gradually 

 tapering towards the apex. The top of the stem bears a large panicle 

 with spreading branches, each of which forms a spike with numerous- 

 flowers. These flowers contain only the stamens or male organs 

 and are normally unable to form seeds. The seeds are developed in 

 the ear, a kind of fleshy spike, the flowers of which are arranged 

 in distinct rows and contain only the pistils or female organs. When 

 young the ears are enclosed within a husk of broad leaves and nothing 

 can be seen of the flowers. At flowering time a cluster of long, 

 slender, yellowish-green or reddish threads protrude from the top- 

 of the ear. These threads, called the silk, are the top ends of the 

 female flowers and catch the dust-like pollen developed in the male 

 flowers and transported by the wind. The development of the ear 

 starts, as in all other inflorescences of grasses, at the base and proceeds, 

 upwards. Thus the first visible silk threads belong to the lower 

 flowers, which consequently, under normal conditions, are fertilized 

 earlier than the upper ones. Should the weather during the latter 

 part of the flowering period be unfavourable, the pollen will not be 

 freely transported and deposited on the silk and the upper part of 

 the ear may be partly or wholly barren, as the seeds are unable to- 

 develop properly without fertilization. 



