CEREALS IO9 



secure the best results the soil should be moist, but well 

 drained. It should also be of good depth. Maize is 

 sensitive to variations in soil, but perhaps mainly as these 

 affect soil moisture. A crop which gives such a heavy 

 yield as maize must necessarily reduce rapidly the fertility 

 of the soil. The problem of the maintenance of soil 

 fertility is therefore one of the most important for the 

 maize grower. 



South Africa must avoid the mistakes made by the 

 farmers of the Southern States, where, Hopkins tells us, 

 thousands of acres of land are practically ruined from an 

 agricultural point of view after but 200 years of farming. 

 Contrast the condition of England to-day, where we are 

 told " the older England grows, the richer become the 

 average soils; cases of impoverishment are few and far 

 between." 



If proper steps are taken to maintain the crop-producing 

 power of the soil, maize does not prove an exhaustive 

 crop. The amount of soil elements removed is small in 

 proportion to the amount of foodstuff produced; large 

 quantities of organic matter are produced which, when 

 fed to live stock, make large quantities of organic manure 

 to return to the soil; the intercultural tillage required by 

 the maize crop is beneficial to the soil. 



Soil fertility is maintained, and even improved, by (i) 

 green manuring; (2) use of farmyard manure; (3) use of 

 artificial fertilizers. As one of our practical maize 

 growers says: "It pays, and pays handsomely, to 

 fertilize," and this I can confirm by actual proof. 



Treatment of the Crop. Broadly speaking, we obtain 

 the best results by the following methods, altered to suit 

 varying conditions, viz.: 



Ploughing fallow or new lands in summer as soon as 

 possible after the work of planting the new crop has 

 been completed. This ground is reploughed in March 

 or April. New ground is ploughed first to a depth of 

 6 in. ; the second ploughing is made as deep as the plough 

 will go (9 to IT in.). The disc-cultivator or Martin's 

 cultivator is used to reduce the surface, and the latter 

 to clean out quick grass (Cynodon dactylori). Weeds 

 are fatal to successful maize growing, and the aim in 



