TILLAGE, PLANTING, AND CULTIVATION 393 

 on good land 70 bushels was obtained with four stalks per hill, chap. 



the hills being the same distance apart {Hunt, 31). At the 

 Illinois Station {Bull. 13, p. 410) close planting (23,760 plants 

 per acre) gave smaller ears, 100 weighing only 39 lbs. ; but a 

 heavier yield of shelled grain (76 bushels) per acre, as compared 

 with 5,940 plants per acre which gave large ears (100 weighing 

 66 lbs.) but only 55 bushels of shelled grain per acre. 



351. Planting Distance for Silage or Fodder Maize. — When 

 the object is to get the heaviest possible yield of fodder from 

 each acre of ground, the plants may stand much closer together 

 than when grain is to be harvested. At the Botanical Experi- 

 ment Station, Pretoria, the rows are kept the same distance 

 apart as when planted for grain, i.e. 3 feet 6 inches, in order 

 to allow space for cleaning, for sunlight, and for leaf-develop- 

 ment, but the seed is planted ever}' 5 or 6 inches instead of 

 18 inches. But no definite rule can be laid down because so 

 much depends on the local conditions of soil and climate, and 

 the particular breed grown. The Pennsylvania and Michigan 

 Stations found the most satisfactory distance to be rows 40 

 inches apart and single stalks 3 to 9 inches apart in the row. 



In the Standerton District (Transvaal) some farmers L leave 

 3 feet between the rows, planting 10 inches apart in the row, 

 and cultivate just as they would for grain ; but they are not 

 sure that 2 feet 6 inches x IO inches might not give a better 

 yield, though " if planted too thick the bottom leaves die," and 

 the leaf is the most valuable part of the fodder. They use 

 Natal Yellow Horsetooth, a vigorous grower, which could not 

 be grown as thickly as some other sorts; they plant 14 to 

 1 5 lbs. of seed per acre. 



352. Effect of Thickness of Planting on Composition of the 

 Fodder. — The American Experiment Stations have found that 

 where the crop has been planted thickly the protein content of 

 the fodder is materially reduced and the percentage of crude 

 fibre considerably increased ; but when there is no greater 

 variation in rate of planting than that of one grain every 6 to 

 12 inches, there is no material difference in the composition of 

 the fodder {Hunt, 3 1 ). 



353. Number of Plants to an Acre of Ground at Different 

 Distances : — 



1 e.g. Messrs. Hutchinson and Shaw of Val Station. 



IX. 



