784 
ThE TROPICAL AGRIOULTURISt 
[April 1, 189a' 
production shall have overtaken consumption, as is 
sure to be the case in the near future, the need of 
“turnine over a now leaf” will bo felt as it is not 
now. We ought to have — we must have, the means 
by which our fanners may got the stimulus of 
modern thought, and their sons be enable to turn 
their energies towards “ the better things of foiniing,” 
and ho who will of our public men be the Queens- 
land Morrill or Binclair “will be illustrions in all 
succeeding days long as the profit of the earth 
is for all and the king himself is served by the field.’’ 
DROUGHT RESISTANCE. 
Indian corn everywhere makes its host growth 
in countries whose climate tends towards dryness 
rather than the opposite extreme of wot weather. 
The great corn-producing States of America are all, 
without exception, subject to protracted droughts, 
which often reduce the crop fully one-half. Tlius 
the Kansas corn crop, which in 18«0 was estimated 
at 375,000,000 bnshols, was in 1S87, a year of drought 
less than 77,000,000 bushels. Similar fiuctuatioiis in 
the great crop might be pointed out in the case of 
every one of the “ hog and hominy ” States. Indian 
corn, as might bo expected, ranks higli among the 
crops capable of withstanding, without injury, pro- 
tracted drought. However, this natural ability of 
the plant may he greatly strengthened and increased 
by means within the reach of the fanner. The 
practices conducive to drought resistance in the 
corn crop are stated or suggested as follows : — 
1. Corn, in ^ound of poor tilth, lumpy, or sur- 
face baked, is always quick to give signs of suffering 
from dry weather. 
2. Thickly planted corn fails with slight provoca- 
tion from dry weather. Of course the proper seeding 
will vary witnin wide limits, with different sorts. 
In my own experiments made in America the com- 
mon slow'-growiug “ dent " varieties did best when 
planted in rows 4 feet apart, with individual plants 
standing 16 inches apart in the row. 
3. Judicious cultivation of the growing crop will 
greatly lesson the effects of dry weather upon it. 
Work the ground deeply and close to the growing 
plants while they are young; as the plants increase 
in size, work less closely to them and cultivate at 
shallow depths. Corn ou^ht to be cultivated at 
least once in ten days until it is “ laid by.” in dry 
weather give the ground numerous shallow cultiva- 
tion, thus making a mulch of the upper 2 inches 
of soil. Never allow the ground to crust over, and 
especially keep down the weeds which constantly 
pump from the soil the moisture which should go 
to the support of the corn plants. To prove the 
value of superficial cultivation in times of drought, 
cultivate lightly a portion of a field of suffering 
corn, and notice how soon the blades will unroll ; 
but if the cultivator is worked deeply the effects of 
the drought will be felt yet more disastrously. 
A CRITICISM. 
Queensland methods in connection with maize 
culture, 80 far as I have been able to acquaint my- 
self with them, seem to me to be open to serious 
objections — they are expensive in labour, and the 
crop is not properly utilised as it ought to be. Take 
the common method of planting corn as 1 have seen 
it done in level Idack soils; — the ground is first 
ploughed, then furrowed out with the same plougli, 
after which the seed is sprinkled along the furrow by 
hand ; then a furrow is turned upon the seed corn, 
and the planting is completed by harrowing the 
planted field smooth. This very complicated oper- 
ation might bo better clone by using, after the land 
has been ploughed— (1) a corn marker, made pf a 
heavy plank or log, with three “ runners ’ or mar- 
kers, which would mark out three rows with each 
movement across the field, and tlieu by planting the 
grain with a drill, operated by a man and horse, 
which plants the seed uniformly at the required dis- 
tances, and covers and pressess the earth about it. 
Then, too, in Queensland, no use is made of the 
corn fodder, anci practically the people have no ac- 
quaintance with maize as used iii its various forms 
au article of humau diet. Xu Auierica, well cured 
corn fodder is considered equal, pound for pound, 
with good quality hay, whilo the grain, in the form 
of green corn, hoininy, and corn rncal, is an article 
of universal consumption. 
MAIZE AS HAY PI.ANT. 
It limy he questioned whetlier there is anotho^ 
plant in ordinary cultivation that equals corn as a 
fodder plant. For ensilage nothing has been dis- 
covered that will take its place. In America advan- 
tage is taken of this hay value of the corn plant to 
utilise the stalks after the grain has been removed. 
Ordinarily the corn is “cutup” at the time when 
the grain is “glazed” and in the “dough” state, 
whilo tlio stalks of the plant are yet green and 
succulent. The practice is to cut the corn at the 
heivlit of nearly a foot from the ground and from a 
“shock” or “ stock” from the growth obtained 
from 40 to 50 square feet of gronud. The cut corn 
is stood np, butts down of course. The shock is 
tied securely at the top to prevent the admission of 
ram, and allowed to remain in the field until the 
fodder is thoroughly dried to the condition of hay. 
The corn is husked as suits the convenience of the 
farmer, and the fodder tied up in bundles convenient 
for handling, and those are stacked for use as 
needed. Another common practice is to top the 
growing corn by cutting the stalk just above the ear 
while the corn is yet green, but after the ears arc 
fnlly formed. This fodder is tied in bundles and 
shocked in the field, where it is allowed to remain 
until felly cured. This form of corn fodder is a 
most perfect hay, which is eaten with great relish 
by horses and cattto. The portion of the stalk re- 
niainiiig with the car has sufficient vitality to fully 
ripen the ear of corn remaining upon it. 
CORN AS HUMAN FOOO. 
Queensland farmers and people generally have 
praetieaJly concluded that maize is worthless as an 
article of human diet. The many people with whom 
I have spoken on tlie subject have generally expressed 
surprise that maize in the many forms in which it 
is used in America was available for table use. 
By some it is urged that corn which is rich in such 
“heat-givers” as starch and oil, and comparatively 
wanting in the proteid, ia unsuited to tlie wants of 
tho inhabitants of warm countries. Here as so often 
elsewhere, “ a single fact is worth a thousand theo- 
riee,” and the fact that corn has been time out of 
mind the “bread-timber” of the negroes and work- 
people generally of tho Southern State.s of AmericK? 
by whom it is eaten all tho year round with salt 
S ork or bacon— another most “heating” food — is in 
etiance of the theorists. The truth is, the whole 
subject of animal nutrition has been beclouded by 
the speculations of tlioso who have considered tho 
subject wholly from a chemical standpoint. Practical 
coiiHiderations and the Ilexibility of the animal system 
often enable men to arrange their dietaries in seem- 
ing violaBon of chemical dicta. The inhabitants of 
the Arctic rigions subsist largely upon fat, in tho 
shape of butter and tallow, and those of intcr-tro- 
pical regions upon like heat-givers, com, pork and 
molasses, for the same reasons. These articles are 
abundant and easily obtained, and long use has led 
to the acquisition of a taste for them. It is difficult 
to think of a more delicious vegetable than the green 
corn BO universally used in Awicrica. Preferably 
sweet com, a small growing variety, rich in saccha- 
riiio matter, is used for the table, although common 
field corn is excellent. Tho oars should ue plucked 
when ill the Rdvanced milk stage, and after boiling 
about forty minutes should be served with butter, 
salt and pepper to suit the taste. Often the corn 
is cut from the cob and boiled with young beans 
to make the “succotash” of New England. The 
hnsinoss of canning green com has assumed vast 
proportions in the States; hundreds of factories are 
engaged in it, and tho product is sent to every part 
of the civilised world. I have myself, in Brisbane, 
bought canned grocii corn which bad been put up 
in one of the States of the Atlantic seaboard. Corn- 
meal is cooked to the condition of “mush,” just as 
oatmeal is made into porridge, and it is eaten 
