128 MAIZE 



chap. Intensive cultivation means greater profit; if we can pro- 



duce 600 muid bags of maize from 50 acres, the profit per bag 

 is much greater than if we get only 300 bags from the same 

 acreage, for the rent of the land and first costs of ploughing, 

 harrowing, and cultivating are the same in each case. 



Through breeding we may further increase the produc- 

 tion by developing drought-resistant or early-maturing sorts 

 adapted to regions now outside the Maize-belt. 



With low yields, maize-growing ceases to be profitable 

 when prices also are low ; but if we double and treble the yield 

 per acre, prices may fall much lower and still yield a good 

 profit. The remedy for low prices lies not in restrictive fiscal 

 legislation, but in reducing the costs of production by increas- 

 ing the yield per acre and improving the quality of the crop. 



99. Need for Increase in the Yield per Acre. — Hartley states 

 that good farmers in the United States frequently grow from 

 75 to 100 bushels of maize per acre. An American bushel of 

 maize on the cob weighs 70 lbs. ; 75 bushels or I OO bushels 

 would, therefore, be equivalent to 26 or 35 muid bags per 

 acre. An American bushel of shelled maize must weigh (by 

 statute) 56 lbs., which would be equivalent to 21 to 28 

 muid bags per acre. Maximum yields are, of course, higher. 

 A certain Pennsylvania farmer has been known to harvest 

 no less than 100 bushels (23 muids) per acre during twelve 

 successive years (excepting only two seasons), and in 1902 

 his average yield over 90 acres was 1 30 bushels or 36-4 

 muids. The Transvaal records are pretty good, for, at 

 Tzaneen in the Zoutpansberg District, the Department of 

 Agriculture has produced 3 5 -J muids (127 bushels of shelled 

 maize) per acre, of Austin Colossal yellow dent, and at the 

 Government Experiment Farm, Potchefstroom, 35 muids 

 (125 bushels) of a white dent. There seems reason to expect, 

 therefore, that given proper treatment of the crop, and with 

 heavy-yielding varieties and well-bred seed, good farmers in 

 the Transvaal will raise an average of 20 muids (71 bushels) 

 per acre ; it is an ideal worth working toward ! A few farmers ' 

 have already done this, but they are still too few to affect the 



•Messrs. Hutchinson and Shaw, and Messrs. Reynolds Brothers, of Zand- 

 baken, Standerton District, have obtained averages of rgj and 20 muids per acre 

 over areas of 30 acres or more. 



