360 MAIZE 



CHAP, the kaffir bean, covvpea, and soybean have given the most 

 promising results. 



In the Standerton District ploughing in of teff for green 

 manure has been tried. 1 The rapid growth of this grass makes 

 it possible to get it in as a catch crop where other crops might 

 not be practicable. 



At the Botanical Experiment Station, Pretoria, experiments 

 conducted to determine the effect of green-manure crops on 

 subsequent crops of maize, wheat, and sunflowers all gave 

 marked results in favour of the green-manured plots. 



The Division of Tobacco and Cotton of the South African 

 Department of Agriculture is conducting a series of rotation 

 experiments at Rustenburg, Tzaneen, Barberton, and Piet 

 Retief, in the Transvaal. These experiments are designed 

 to determine the best rotation for the improvement of worn- 

 out tobacco lands. The experiments include the following 

 rotation : — 



First year .... Tobacco. 

 Second year . . . Cotton. 



Third year . . .A leguminose crop such as velvet beans, cow- 



peas, peanuts, or soybeans. 

 Fourth year . . . Maize. 



It is intended to add to this a small cereal winter crop 

 such as wheat, barley, or oats, on irrigated lands, to come 

 between the tobacco and cotton, or between the legumes and 

 maize crops. The experiments are not yet complete. 



316. The functions of manures are twofold, restorative and 

 additive ; to maintain fertility and to increase it. Restorative 

 manures are merely intended to replace in the soil those ele- 

 ments of plant-food which have been taken out of it by 

 cropping. Restorative manures should be of a "complete" or 

 general character, i.e. must contain all the fertilizing ingredients. 

 Restoration is chiefly effected by farmyard manure. Additive 

 manures should be adapted to the special requirements of the 

 soils and crops to which they are applied ; they may be, but 

 are not necessarily, or usually, complete. As a rule, addition 

 can only be made in the form of the so-called artificial manures. 



317. Manurial Requirements of the Maize Crop. — Hunt (1) 

 concludes that, as far as maize is concerned, the influence of the 



1 By Messrs. Reynolds Bros., Zandbaken, Val Station. 



