GRAIN CROPS. 73 



to maturity, in four months and in cooler locations than the 

 former. Yield about one-third less than No. 1. 



3. White, corn (Tuscarora). Stalks about 6 feet high ; 

 cobs from 5 to 8 inches in length ; matures in three months 

 in moderately rich soil. Yield from 30 to 40 bushels per 

 acre. 



4. White glazed corn. In habit and size of cob like No. 

 3. Grain hard, tough, and shrivelled ; matures in from 

 100 to 120 days in temperature ranging between 90deg. 

 and 120deg. 



5. Variegated corn received here with great promise 

 from South America has not done well. 



It can be said with safety that land cannot be too 

 rich nor too " active " for maize. We see the truth of this 

 in the enormous crops grown upon newly cleared scrub 

 land in which, from the density of timber and under- 

 growth burnt upon the land, the quantity of potash and 

 other active salts is excessive. In such places, by merely 

 scratching in the seed with a hoe often among half-burnt 

 logs and several inches deep of ashes crops of from 80 to 

 1 20 bushels per acre are gathered. That is cultivation on 

 new land, however, and for but a season or two, while the 

 corn has no weeds to contend with, and is but the first 

 approach to farming. Next to new land, closely cropped 

 sod, freshly turned in, gives the heaviest crops of corn. 

 Then comes regular farming in conjunction with manuring 

 and other crops for rotation, and the yields come in 

 accordance with the richness of the soil and the skilj 

 employed. 



Preparing Land for Com. As much vegetable matter 

 as possible should be retained near the surface ; and to 

 effect this, shallow ploughing from three to five inches 

 deep answers very well, and particularly so when a subsoil 

 plough, plough body, or grubber, is run four or five inches 

 deeper in the furrow, immediately .after the plough, that 

 merely loosening the under or subsoil. 



The Seed. Much care should be exercised in the 

 selection and care of maize seed. A practice highly 

 recommended is to plant each year a few acres of the most 

 productive land with the most choice seed, and from this 



