BOTANICAL CHARACTERS 



93 



Table XVI. 

 VARIATION IN TIME OF FLOWERING. 



CHAP. 

 IV. 



1 Ears were ready for boiling on 11 December, and these were not from the 

 earliest-flowering plants. 



2 Grown without irrigation ; Skinner's Court 10 was irrigated. 



An investigation conducted at the Botanical Experiment 

 Station, Pretoria, in which careful records were obtained from 

 thirty-eight different breeds or strains of maize (see Table 

 XVII), resulted as follows: — 



Aggregate time taken from appearance above ground 



to period of flowering ...... 2,125 days. 



Aggregate time taken from date of appearance above 



ground to ripening of seed ..... 4,256 days. 



From the figures in Table XVII we conclude that the 

 period of flowering occurs, roughly speaking, half-way between 

 the first appearance of the plant above ground and the ripen- 

 ing of the seed. Hence a farmer should be able to foretell 

 approximately the date at which he ma)' reasonably expect 

 his seed to be ripe and safe from frost. It is possible, how- 

 ever, that results obtained in one district may not be repeated 

 in another, and it is therefore desirable to obtain records of the 

 results obtained by farmers in different parts of the country. 



