XIV MAIZE 263 



Climate.— The plant will thrive and give large returns 

 in widely different climates. " The warmest regions of the 

 "torrid zone produce maize in abundance, where three crops 

 " can be taken in a season, while the short summers of Canada 

 ''have a variety adapted to them." In the tropics the plant Elevation. 

 grows from the shore to a height of more than 9,000 feet 

 above the sea level ; but, until a prolific mountain variety 

 has been bred by careful and long continued selective pro- 

 cesses, its cultivation in the higher regions will not be fol- 

 lowed by success. In the West Indies elevations of from 

 200 to 900 feet may be considered to be the best. 



Cultivation. — The land should be well ploughed up, and importance 

 the subsoil turned over to a depth of seven inches. Then tillage. 

 the land should be harrowed so as to pulverise the soil as 

 much as possible, for the better the tilth the greater will be 

 the returns. The land being prepared, it may advantageously Furrows. 

 be marked out in squares of three feet by means of a light 

 plough, the furrows being first run one way and then cross 

 -furrows being run at right angles to them. At the points Sowing th^^ 

 when the furrows cross each other from four to six seeds 

 should be sown at a depth of two inches and the earth 

 pressed down lightly over them. If the land be too much Distances. 

 broken up to permit the use of the plough, it can be lined 

 out at distances of three feet, and the soil loosened with the 

 hoe where the seeds are to be planted. Seedling plants may Nurseries. 

 also be raised in nurseries and transferred to the fields when 

 they are five or six inches high, for they bear transplanting 

 very well. As soon as the young corn is growing in the Moulding up 

 field, a top dressing of wood ashes, or lime, or superphos- ^^^ p^^'^^^- 

 phate should be applied, and each plant earthed up so as to 

 provide soil for the growth of the roots which spring from 

 the lower part of the stem. No more than four plants should 

 be allowed to grow in each hill ; so that, if all the six seeds 

 have germinated, the two weakest seedlings should be 

 pulled up. The land must be kept free of weeds, and the Weeding. 



