74 



AUSTRALIAN AOHICOI.TURE. 



select seed for the following year. Selections should be 

 made with reference to both stalk and ear. Good .stalks 



<s. > should be from 



d. 



\ 



7 



8ft. to 10ft. in 

 height, with 

 short joints and 

 a abundant foli- 

 age, bearing the 

 * ears at a height 

 iof about 4 feet. 

 Good ears should 

 be from Sin. to 

 lOin. in length, 



Marker for Corn. Potatoes, *c. and have an 



uniform diameter to near the tip of about 2^in. ; they 

 should be well filled to both ends with from 16 to 

 20 rows, little space between the rows, and with shanks 

 large enough to support their weight. The kernels 

 should be thick rather than thin, somewhat wedge-shaped, 

 and in length equal to or greater than one-half the diameter 

 of the internal core. 



Planting. There are two established systems of 

 planting corn in hills, made by taking out a lift of soil 

 with the hoe from 3 to 4.^ feet apart each way; in each 

 hole thus made half-a-dozen or more seeds are dropped ; 

 from three to six of the plants that come up are allowed to 

 grow, and all the stronger when the hills are well manured. 

 In cultivating by this system the soil is drawn up towards 

 the corn as it advances in growth, thus forming the hills. 

 The plan is the best where the land is new, and encum- 

 bered with burnt logs, roots, &c. Hill planting is also 

 managed by running out furrows with the marker or plough 

 from tour to five feet apart, then crossing them with fur- 

 rows about three feet apart. In the checks or corners thus 

 made, where the furrows cross, the corn is planted, and 

 answers very well when a little rich manure meets the 

 roots. The other system is to drill in the seed by machine 

 or hand, and where horse-labor is available, this is the 

 system that enables men to do the most work. Where the 

 land is thoroughly ploughed and smoothed down with the 



