TEOSINTE. Euchltena Mexicana, Sehrad. Also given as E. luxurians and Reana luxurians, Dur. Graminew. Guatemala Grass. (Pronounced teosin'te.) Fig. 861.
An annual forage plant closely related botani cally to corn. The appearance and inflorescence are much like corn, but no true ear is formed ; the seed is produced on slender spikes in four or five leaf-axils near the center of the plant. A tassel is borne similar to that of corn. Some botan ists hold it to be the original form of corn, with which it readily crosses. It is a rank grower, reaching a height of nine to fifteen feet, and bearing an abundance of leaves and tender stems. Thirty to sixty stalks are sometimes sent up from a single root. Some of the suckers attain nearly the same size as the main stem and mature at about the same time. Under favorable conditions, growthcontinues until checked by frost.
Distribution.
The successful growing of teosinte is restricted by soil and climatic conditions. It demands a rich soil with an abundance of moisture and a long, hot growing sea son. Where these conditions do not pre vail, it is easily superseded by sorghum, corn and other forage crops. The plant is a native of the warm parts of Mexico and Central and South America, though it was first cultivated in Australia. In the United States its best growth is made along the Gulf coast, in Florida and Louisiana, and in Georgia and Mississippi. It may be grown as far north as New Jersey and Kansas, though in the northern states it can scarcely be considered an economic forage plant. It has been grown with some success in Michigan and southern Oregon. In New York and Vermont it has not given satisfac tion. In Texas it has given satisfaction, both as a green and as a dry feed. It here grows to a height of nine feet, and produces three crops a year, but it does not mature seed.
It seldom matures seed north of latitude 30°. The seed raised in the United States is grown almost exclusively in the southernmost part of Florida, though seed has been matured at the Louisiana Experiment Station.
Culture.
The planting season is May or June, and it should not be delayed beyond this because of the long growing season required. Rich bottom land or any soil that will produce good crops of corn is most desirable. The drills are three to four feet apart, the plants one foot apart in the row. It is some
times advised to make the drills five feet apart and the hills three feet apart in the row, three or four seeds being planted in each hill. The richer the land the farther apart should the seeds be planted. One to three pounds of seed per acre is used, de pending on the method of planting ; usually one pound per acre is sufficient. The seed is rather expensive, and must be purchased each year.
The crop is given much the same cultivation as corn, and is fertilized as for corn or sorghum. Fig. 861 illustrates the luxuriant growth.
Harvesting and yield.
Teosinte is seldom used in any way except as a soiling crop. Its great succulence and the fact that it is usually grown where there is much rain renders it nearly impossible to cure it for fodder. It has occasionally been ensiled and is said to make a fair quality of silage. When used as a soiling crop, it furnishes several cuttings during the season. It is best cut when four or five feet high, as it becomes less palatable if allowed to mature much beyond this. When grown for fodder it may be cut late in the season, and the amount of feed secured will be practically as great as that secured by cutting it several times during the season.
When grown for seed in Florida, the plants are sometimes cut once or twice before they are allowed to run to seed. The seed is ready to har vest in December. It is run through an ordinary grain thresher and sold by sample.
The yields of forage are enormous, placing tee sinte at the head of the grasses in the yields per acre. Harvests of eighteen to thirty tons per acre are not uncommon. When to this great yielding property is added the fact that the entire plant is relished by stock, its importance as a forage crop is readily understood. The stalks are tender and nutritious, and none of the plant is wasted.
Although teosinte has been known for a long time, it has almost no standing as a farm crop in this country. It is utterly useless to plant it on any except moist, rich soil, and such soil is not common in the section where it is grown. The fact that practically its sole use is for soiling purposes greatly limits its usefulness as a farm crop.
Literature.
Farmers' Bulletin No. 102, United States Depart ment of Agriculture ; Kansas Experiment Station, Bulletin No. 123 ; Florida Experiment Station, Bulletin No. 78.