British Dairy Farming. 
133 
the situation of the land, its quality and size, and the quality 
of the cow, for M. Crevat, in his ' Alimentation rationnelle du 
betail,' remarks that he has found small cows yield more milk 
than large ones, in proportion to their size. Where a 6-cwt. cow 
yields 466 gallons, a 12-cwt. cow only yields 744. Well may 
M. Heuze say, 'Un champ de ma'is est une fabrique d'engrais. 
Tant prosperera cette fabrique de matiere premiere, tant vaudra 
toute la production agricole,' * If it is true that, chemically 
speaking, those foods are the most A'aluable which approach in 
the nearest degree the requirements of the animals for which 
they are intended, both as to their constituents and their facility 
of digestion, then maize must upon these grounds be one of the 
most profitable crops which can be used ; but how much more 
so is this the case when we consider the bulk it produces, the 
fact that it can be taken as a second crop, and the facility with 
which it can be cultivated ! If 275 lbs, of green maize is equal 
to 100 lbs. of hay, to 500 lbs. of turnips, to 59 lbs. of oats, it 
follows that a 25-ton crop, certainly not a maximum crop, is 
equal to 9 tons of hay, to 35 quarters of oats, and, at the rate of 
15 tons to the acre, to 3 acres of turnips. It is a curious fact, 
that, although maize does not flourish in a low temperature, yet 
it germinates at as low as 43 degrees, as shown by experiments 
made by Dr. Sturtevant at the New York Experimental Station. 
According to MM. Thome and Sachs, the growth of maize 
begins at 48 • 9° Fah. ; but in a series of experiments made by 
Dr. Sturtevant, he found that of the various temperatures it 
requires the following number of hours to germinate : — 
Experiment. 
Average Temperature. 
Highest Temperature. 
Number of Hours 
required 
for Germination. 
1 
521 
55-5 
140 
2 
48-2 
50-7 
168 
3 
45-5 
47-8 
264 
4 
43-4 
43-7 
233 
Special apparatus was prepared for the purpose of the testing. 
With regard to ripening maize in this country for the seed, 
I am strongly of opinion that certain varieties of seed can be 
acclimatized and adapted to our climate, as they are being 
adapted to the Northern States of America. I have had 
numerous ripened cobs sent to me from different parts of the 
* A field of maize is a manure factory, and the produce of the farm is 
valuable in proportion as this factory prospers. 
