412 QUEENSLAND AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. [1 Dec., 1898. 
the vessel so that every seed gets its share. This will prevent their sticking 
together, and the lime will act also as a stimulant and manure round the 
young plants. 
PREPARATION OF THE LAND. 
On the care bestowed on the preparation of the land depends to a great 
extent the success of the crop. No plant is perhaps more responsive to 
thorough tillage. In examining the roots of a maize-plant at the various 
stages of its growth, we find that the first to appear—the food-gathering 
roots, as they are called—start from the seed in a radiating way, extending 
horizontally in every direction within 2 or 8 inches of the surface of the soil.* 
There they find not only the food for the young plant, but also the moisture 
and the warmth necessary to its life and growth. Later on, new successive 
sets of roots start from over the former ones at the bottom of the stem, and 
usually over the ground. But, instead of extending horizontally, they sink 
nearly straight into the soil, where they have been found to extend as deep as 
from 4 to 6 feet from the surface. These subsoil roots serve a double 
purpose ; they keep erect a plant which offers a comparatively great height 
and large surface to the action of wind, and sustain it during the dry, scorch- 
ing summer months, supplying it with the moisture it imperiously requires, 
especially at flowering time. 
From the above-described habit of growth of the plant, one would think 
that the deeper the soil is stirred and pulverised the better should be the crop 
on it. Experience thoroughly confirms that inference. No ploughing for 
corn should be less than 9 or 10 inches deep. An additional subsoiling down 
to 18 or 20 inches will pay, perhaps not in one season, but certainly in two or 
three successive seasons. When done by a single-furrow plough, followed by 
a subsoiler in the same furrow, the work is somewhat slow and expensive. It 
takes two teams and three or four men, and can hardly be done for less than 
fron £1 10s. to £2 per acre. But it can be done twice as quickly and 
proportionately cheaper by two men and one team only with a combination of 
plough and subsoiler together, the front foot of a double-furrow plough having 
the shape and depth of a subsoiler. Not only is such a method quicker and 
cheaper, but it has also a great superiority in the fact that the horses. never 
tramp on the subsoiled furrow. 
The land thus prepared in autumn should lie fallow during the winter, 
exposed to the influence of air, sun, rain, and especially frost. In the spring 
it should be either cross-ploughed or, still better, well pulverised with a strong 
cultivator (scuffler) set first 8 inches deep, and then crosswise 10 or 12 inches 
deep. Should the land be still lumpy, it should be gone over with spading 
and ordinary harrows until a perfect tilth is secured. 
" PLANTING, 
On the Downs planting commences as soon as frost is over—say, in 
September—and can be continued till about Christmas. The success of the crop 
depending so much on a few showers at planting, and especially at flowering 
*These act also as stays to the plant, preventing its overthrow during high winds.—Ed, 
VAS. 
