392 



MAIZE 



CHAP. 

 IX. 



Table LV. 

 RESULTS OF DISTANCE TESTS IN NATAL. 



Distance in the 

 Rows. 



2 



2 i 



3 



4 



foot apart 

 feet 



Rows, 4 feet Apart. 



Clearly the best distance, in that locality and soil and for 

 that season, was 3 feet between the rows and I foot apart in 

 the rows. It must be remembered, however, that unless such an 

 experiment is conducted over a series of years, or on a large 

 area, and an average taken, the variations which occur ma)' be 

 due to slight differences in soil, or to greater insect attack in 

 some spots than others, these being usually restricted to 

 patches and not uniformly distributed. 



A farmer at Manderston, Natal, 1 informed the writer that 

 he planted Hickory King 2 feet 8 inches x 14 inches, which 

 is equivalent to about 14,000 plants per acre; this was on 

 well-manured land. His crop when planted at this distance 

 averaged 14 muids per acre which appears like a good yield ; 

 but this means that with a full stand of plants the average 

 yield per plant would have been only 3 '2 oz.. which is very 

 low, indicating either that an unusual allowance must be made 

 for misses, grubs, etc., or that the planting was too close. 



350. Distances Tried iji the United States. — From accounts 

 of experiments in the United States it would appear that the 

 best crops are obtained at distances giving 11,000 to 12,000 

 plants per acre, but there, also, we find variation according to 

 climate and richness of soil. Recent experiments have shown 

 that the crop is apt to suffer if the plants are bunched, four or 

 five together in a hill, and from this point of view continuous 

 row planting seems to be superior to check-row planting. At 

 the Missouri Station, the largest yield on poor land (36 bushels) 

 was obtained from leaving only two stalks per hill, with the hills 

 3 feet 9 inches apart each way, or 6,480 stalks per acre ; while 



1 Mr. John Moon. 



