Edible Products. 



344 



[April, 1909. 



is grown in Southern Europe, especially 

 in Hungary, Roumania and Italy, in 

 the southern parts of Asia, in Africa, 

 in Australia, especially in New South 

 Wales and Queensland, and in America, 

 from Canada to Patagonia. Frost kills 

 the plant in all its stages, and the crop 

 does not flourish well if the nights are 

 cool. In the tropics it can be grown 

 from the sea-level to considerable alti- 

 tudes. In cool localities it will not ripen, 

 though it can be grown for use as fodder. 



Soil- — The best soil for maize is a rich 

 sandy loam containing a fair amount 

 of humus, well drained, but holding 

 moisture well, since the plant makes a 

 rapid ;tnd succulent growth ; for this 

 reason the presence of humus is impor- 

 tant, owing to its retentive power for 

 moisture. Stiff clay is prejudical. 

 Maize grows well in succession to crops 

 which leave behind them plenty of 

 vegetable matter to form humus ; any 

 land which has given a good crop of 

 hay will after ploughing give a good 

 crop of maize. Leguminous plants form 

 good crops to precede maize, as they 

 enrich the soil in humus and nitrogenous 

 matter. 



Seed Selection.— In order to ensure a 

 good growth in the next crop the seed 

 for sowing should be selected in the 

 field, and not after gathering, as the 

 character of the stalk a cob came from 

 cannot then be known ; the best cobs 

 of the best stalks should be collected 

 and kept apart to furnish seed. In the 

 Southern United States stalks producing 

 two cobs to the stalk are preferred, as 

 they are considered to give the largest 

 yields. Cobs poor in size, shape or 

 fulness should be rejected, and if one 

 cob on a stalk is very poor both should 

 be rejected. A cob that bends over in 

 ripening so that the top hangs down- 

 wards is advantageous, as the rain 

 does not collect at the bottom and 

 cause decay or sprouting. 



The ears should be of good size, of 

 nearly uniform diameter throughout, 

 and well filled at both ends. The indi- 

 vidual grains should be long, and so 

 broad at the upper end as to leave only 

 a slight depression between the rows. 



When a satisfactory kind of maize 

 has been found, care should be taken 

 not to plant another kind of maize any- 

 where near it, as the pollen from the 

 tassels is carried by the wind and ferti- 

 lises cobs at a distance, and thus the 

 character of the good maize would be 

 altered in the next crop- 



Planting and Cultivation.— In places 

 where water is liable to stand after 

 heavy rains the land should be ploughed 



so as to form beds on which to plant 

 the maize, but where the surface water 

 runs off quickly the land should be 

 ploughed flat- With good drainage 

 flat planting is the best, as it is less 

 expensive, and the amount of surface 

 exposed being smaller there is less eva- 

 poration, and the crop therefore stands 

 drought better. When beds are made 

 they may be 4 feet or 8 feet wide ; in 

 the latter case the maize is planted in 

 two rows, one near each edge of the 

 bed with 4 feet between the beds. After 

 ploughing the soil should be well pul- 

 verised by harrowing; a thorough pre- 

 paration of the soil produces a better 

 crop and facilitates subsequent oper- 

 ations in destroying weeds. 



Maize is commonly planted in rows 

 4 feet apart, as this allows a convenient 

 width for cultivating between the 

 plants ; the distance between the plants 

 in the row is about 3 feet, but the thick- 

 ness of planting must be varied accord- 

 ing to circumstances, both the fertility 

 of the land and the amount of moisture 

 being considered. On very fertile soils 

 distances of Si feetx3£ feet with 3 grains 

 per hill are adopted. The richer the 

 soil the closer can planting be done with 

 safety. If the stalks stand too thickly 

 in the rows the crop will suffer more in 

 dry weather than when planted more 

 thinly, and when the plants crowd each 

 other they do not produce good ears, 

 whilst more leaf is the result. 



Planting should be deferred until the 

 soil has become warm enough to ensure 

 prompt germination of the seed; the 

 depth at which the seed should be sown 

 depends on the temperature and 

 moisture of the soil ; if it is planted at 

 too great a depth the soil is cold and 

 wet, and the seed may decay ; if it is 

 too near the surface of a dry soil, and 

 dry weather continues, the crop may 

 prove uneven. The planting is done 

 either by means of a horse-drawn plant- 

 ing machine or the seed is dropped on 

 the surface and covered by using a hoe. 



Cultivation should begin immediately 

 after the first rain that follows the 

 planting ; the surface should be broken 

 and the weeds killed, and this should be 

 repeated after each rain, so as to prevent 

 the formatiom of a crust and to kill the 

 weeds. When the crop is from 4 to 6 

 inches high it should be hoed and 

 thinned to the proper number of stalks, 

 as it will then be past the greatest 

 danger from insect attack, and any 

 weeds growing in the rows between the 

 stalks should be cut out. In times of 

 drought a well pulverised but shallow 

 surface layer forming a " dust mulch " 

 checks evaporation and keeps the soil 

 beneath moist. 



