3 §4 MAIZE 



CHAP, ploughing of the maize fields. No actual planting calendar can 

 be given which would apply.equally to all parts of the country, 

 for this necessarily varies with temperature and time of arrival 

 of the spring rains, which vary greatly in different districts and 

 different seasons. 



Experiments conducted at the Government Experiment 

 Farm, Cedara, Natal, gave the following results : — 



Table LII. 



EFFECT OF TIME OF PLANTING ON YIELD. 



Maize sown 22 Oct., 1904, yielded 720 lbs. (3-6) muids of grain per acre. 

 ,1 >i 3 Nov., ., ,, 760 ,, (3'8o) 



>■ ,! 15 ,, „ .. 1690 ,, (8-45! 



27 „ „ „ 1890 ,, (9-45) 



,, ,, 9 Dec, ,, ,, 1680 ,, (8'40) 



,, ,, 21 ,, ,, ,, 600 ,, (3'oo) 



Plantings made on the same dates in successive years are 

 not likely to show uniform results, for time of planting can 

 have no direct bearing on the crop except as it is correlated 

 with conditions of the weather and seasonal variations in the 

 prevalence and effect of pests and diseases. At the same time 

 it should be noted that observations of this character, conducted 

 over a long series of years, with the same variety of crop and 

 in the same locality, are of the greatest importance for localities 

 having similar conditions. For every district there must be a 

 time for sowing when weather conditions are, on the average, 



fc> ' £> ' 



at the best for the production of good crops. 



At the Government Experiment Farm, Potchefstroom, the 

 usual time for maize planting is between 1 5 October and 7 

 November. 



In parts of the Pretoria District (4,000 to 4,500 feet altitude) 

 the usual time is from the occurrence of first rains, until 

 Christmas. In this district the " planting rains " rarely come 

 before 1 5 November, which throws the growing season so 

 late that there is danger of early autumn frost catching the 

 crop before it is mature ; these frosts sometimes fall as early 

 as 28 March. By ploughing the ground in January, February 

 or March, and choosing the moister soils of the farm, planting 

 can be started the following season independently of the spring 

 rains, even as early as 1 September, and by deep plant- 

 ing (4 to 5 inches) and frequent harrowing, the seedlings do 



