TILLAGE, PLANTING, AND CULTIVATION 385 



not suffer from the usually intermittent character of these chap. 

 rains. As a rule the occasional light frosts of early September IX ' 

 do not seriously affect the young plants. At the Botanical 

 Experiment Station, Pretoria (4,300 feet), planting commences 

 on 1 November and continues until Christmas. 



At Witbank, Middelburg District, Transvaal, one crop was 

 planted as early as 26 August in 1909 and did not suffer 

 from cutworm or stalk-borer. 



On the eastern High-veld, where the rainfall is heavier, 

 October is the general month for main crop planting, which 

 continues till the middle of November. Planting at the Govern- 

 ment Stud Farm, Standerton (5,000 to 5,500 feet), on well-pre- 

 pared land, begins about 25 September and is continued till 

 25 October. At Bethal, 31 October is considered about the 

 last safe date for planting Hickory King. 



In the drier parts of the Waterberg and Western Zoutpans- 

 berg (3,500 to 4,000 feet) the rains usually fall late, and the 

 commencement of planting is often delayed until the middle of 

 December ; but as the early frosts fall later here than at higher 

 altitudes, the planting season for early maturing sorts may 

 continue till the middle of January. 



In the Lower Bush-veld of the Transvaal the planting 

 season is independent of frost, but the rainfall being less than 

 on the High-veld, and evaporation and transpiration greater, 

 the season varies with the rainfall and must be so planned that 

 the plants will secure about 1 3 inches of rainfall during the 

 three principal growing months of the crop. In Rhodesia, 

 according to Mr. Odium, maize is planted as soon as sufficient 

 rain has fallen to thoroughly saturate the soil. Sometimes 

 this is in November, but more often not until December. 



At Himeville, Natal, in the Underberg District, planting 

 sometimes commences at the end of August, while at Cedara, 

 in the Umgeni District, the end of November has been found 

 the best time. At Manderston, Camperdown District, the ten 

 days from 22 November to 1 December have given the best 

 results. 1 



344. Listing. — Planting with a lister (Fig. 142) is a 

 common practice in those parts of the United States in which 

 the soils are friable and the rainfall scanty. It is claimed, 



1 According to Mr. John Moon. 

 25 



