Weed Control In Maize Crops: Sprays Effective

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXXVI, Issue 22952, 21 May 1949, Page 8

Weed Control In Maize Crops: Sprays Effective

SPRAYING for wood control in maize lias boon attended with encouraging success in several parts of the district during the past season, and it is proposed that exhaustive trials be carried out next planting season. At a comparable cost, the spraying probably will be the means of eliminating the drudgery and high cost of hand hoeing.

A 10-acre block of maize in the Willows Settlement a;ea was visited this week to see the effect of spraying carried out under adverse conditions. Flood-waters had brought down Californian thistle and its growth in the crop was troubling the farmer. The maize had been planted on November 7 and the spraying was carried out as a last resort. When the contractor came into the picture early in January he considered the maize too high for the 2-4 D waterbased salt to be 100 per cent effective, but agreed to give it a trial. The maize was about 18in. high when he sprayed on January 18 and had been scarified once. He preferred it to be from 3in .to 15in. high for the best results. Solution Trobably Too Heavy Because of the size of the maize and the strong hold gained by the weeds and the Californian thistle he set out to check, the contractor made the strength of his solution heavier than he would have done normally. He put on two pints of the water-based salt to the acre and covered seven and a-half acres of the block. The results were a little terrifying at the start because the maize and the weeds keeled over. Then the recovery was made. ' However, to the dismay of the farmer, the weeds appeared to recover also. Within six weeks the fat-hen and other weeds were eliminated from the sprayed portion of the crop and the thistle had been considerably weakened. Consequently, the pfister maize in the crop went ahead without any further check. Even at this late stage of the ’season it was obvious where the spray had been used. There was a little second growth, but it was of little consequence and the persisting thistle was still weak in its growth. The area had been sacrificed again following the spraying, and weeds in the dirty portion of" the block were almost maize high. Farmers have come to realise how dangerous sprays of the kind are in incompetent hands, particularly if they should be permitted to be wind-borne and settle on other crops or trees.