FARM NOTES.

Taranaki Herald, Volume LIV, Issue 13424, 15 March 1907, Page 3

FARM NOTES.

Maize as a fodder crop for dairying purposes will receive more attention when its value becomes bettor known. One has only to 'look at a crop of maizo to realise what a "vast quantity of feed is produced to .trie acre, and this is fully borne out 'by the experiments carried out ' at Mbttjohaki in connection vvith the growing of 2& different varieties of maize and sorghum. In his annual report the manager says: "From time to time 1 have been advocating ihe value of maize and sorghum as fodder crops, nevertheless it is astonishing how little of either crop, is grown, even in tho Taranaki district, where so much dairying , is done. Either of tiic above crops is not only excellent Teed cut green for cows, but it has the -advantage of being one of the '»est foods for converting into silage. A.s will be seen* from the results of the liials, several of the varieties of maize have given yields of great weight por acre. As I have often said, in dairying districts it would always be wise for every farmer to get in a few acres of maize or sorghum. The latter will not produce the crop of the former, but it \n\s the advantage of keeping green later in the season and does not have the same tendency to get woody.

"The growing and cultivation of oilher ci:op. is /vej^y- simple,. The seed should be plantedTtSr dropped in drills •>0 inches to three feet apart. Lines can easily be drawn with a plough and the •oed dropped 12 inches to 15 inchos upart in the furrows; or the seed can be sown with an ordinary gz*ain drill, stopping the number of coulters to get Hie required width between the rows. As soon as the crop gets a few inches above ground the cultivation should br commenced between the rowß. Any needs in the maiz? lines should be hoed out with a band hoe ; unless the ground i-s very dirty hand hoeing will only bo required once. The drills should bo y;one through with a Planet, Jun., o<horse hoe at least three times during the season. The extra crop will do more than pay for tho time and* labour exponded in cultivation, besides tho advantage of keeping the ground clear of weeds. The pJots w.ere sown on November 14th and 15th. The green «-rops were cut and weighed during the month of March, when the crop was fed to cattle. The, plots were manured with lewt of steamed bonedust and lewt of superphosphate to the acre : fche plots had also a light dressing of farm dung in September." It is unnecessary to- -give the" tabula ted form of yields obtained, but it is interesting fco note that while the Early ftod Hogan and Goldeil King maizo yielded as mueli as 60 and 64 tons per acre respectively, the Sorghum Sacc?»vatum yielded' only 14 tons. When this is compared with the average of 25 and 30 tons attributed to turnips, it will readily be seen what a valuable crop maize must prove to the dairy farmer. There is an extra amount of labour required, of course, especially in the preparation of ensilage when the maizo has to bo chaffed to facilitate handling nut of the silo, but the fact that it can be fed to cows while they are in milk would fully compensate for this. If Ir.nd values continue to increase, dairy ! farmers will ho forced to adopt this method of increasing the yield of milk by extensive cultivation and milking through the winter months.