44 2 MAIZE 



CHAP, of the over-wintered stalks which, if carefully followed, makes 

 it possible to prevent appreciable loss. The advisability of 

 burning the stalks has often been suggested. . . . When the 

 stalks have been left to dry up in the field they are of little 

 value except as ' stalk-pasture ' for cattle and horses. Since 

 the moths do not emerge till spring it is an advantage to use 

 the stalks for pasture, for it reduces the bulk to be handled in 

 burning them. Their value as a source of plant-food in the 

 soil must not be overlooked, but there is also the disadvantage 

 that coarse material tends to augment the effect of drought in 

 certain soils. The stalks are not [altogether] lost by burning, 

 for the ashes remain and are readily available [as plant-food]. 

 From the standpoint of value as stock-food or fertilizer the 

 stalks can easily be turned to better advantage by means of, the 

 silo or by cutting them in time for ' fodder,' as pointed out later, 

 and ultimately returning to the land as manure" (Mally, i). 



To destroy all the borers the maize stalks must be pulled or 

 hoed out, after having been browsed by cattle, and be piled up 

 in convenient heaps and burned ; especial care must be taken 

 to completely burn the stumps. It is not sufficient to let the 

 fire sweep through the heap and then gradually smoulder away ; 

 the stalks and stumps around the edges must be raked up on 

 to the centre of the burning mass, otherwise a few borers will 

 remain alive. " It must be clearly understood that half-hearted 

 work is of little use. The occasional stalks and stumps, which 

 it seems hardly worth the trouble to clear up, may harbour 

 enough borers to discredit the work when the young mielies 

 are examined in the spring. The same is true of neglected 

 spots or lands to be left fallow for the season. . . . Neglect 

 is the strongest ally of the pests, for it provides them with a 

 good base of supplies on which to gain strength for the next 

 season's depredations." 



Kaffir corn, sorghum, Johnson-grass, teosinte, and sugar- 

 cane are recorded as additional host plants of the maize 

 stalk-borer, and they should be treated in the same way as 

 the maize stubble. 



408. Ploughing-under the Stalks. — This method of treat- 

 ment is frequently suggested, but Mr. Mally does not recom- 

 mend it owing to the difficulty experienced in burying all of 

 the stalks, and because those which are left on the surface are 



