The Work of the 
 Dominicn Experimental Farms 
 
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 The Work of the 
 Dominion Experimental Farms 
 
 BY 
 
 FRANK T. SHUTT, M.A., F.I.C., F.R.S.C. 
 Assistant Director and Dominion Chemist. 
 
 From the Transactions of the Canadian Institute, Toronto. 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY PRESS, TORONTO 
 1913. 
 
1913] The Work of the Dominion Experimental Farms. 
 
 THE WORK OF THE DOMINION EXPERIMENTAL FARMS 
 By Frank T. Shutt, M.A., F.I.C. 
 
 Assistant Director and Dominion Chemist. 
 
 Read 14th December, 1912. 
 
 Agriculture is the basic industry of Canada: it is the foundation 
 upon which the Canada of to-day has been built and upon which she 
 to-day rests. As it has been the pioneer occupation in this Dominion, so 
 must it always remain the staple business of our people, influencing and 
 determining by its development and progress the welfare and prosperity 
 of our national life. To-day it employs directly more than half of our 
 population. 
 
 Our commerce and our manufactures are directly or indirectly 
 dependent for their expansion upon the country's harvests: as the 
 latter increase in volume and value so will all other industries assume 
 greater importance. In a word, Canada is essentially an agricultural, 
 a food -producing country; as we are able to place more and more acres 
 of our unoccupied lands under successful tillage, as we are able to profit- 
 ably and without impairment of the fertility of our land increase crop 
 yields, so shall we, in a very permanent and eminently satisfactory way, 
 add to the nation's wealth, not only as regards agricultural products, 
 but in the support and encouragement of every calling and occupation 
 that makes for the country's good. 
 
 Another statement : Canada's cultivable land is her greatest and 
 most valuable asset. And in saying this I am not unmindful of her 
 many natural resources other than productive land, her mineral wealth, 
 her immense forests, her large and valuable fisheries, her unsurpassed 
 water-powers. All these as developed and properly conserved will indeed 
 be ever-increasing sources of wealth, but nevertheless it will be the 
 wealth and life as coming from our farms which will play the most 
 important and vital part, which will contribute most towards the build- 
 ing up and prosperity of this country in its national life. 
 
 To support these contentions I may bring forward a few statistics 
 regarding our tillable areas. In the nine provinces of Canada we have 
 a land area of approximately 986,533,000 acres, of which at a very con- 
 servative estimate 36 per cent, (or 358,835,000 acres) is capable of occu- 
 pation as farm lands. At the present time there is probably not more 
 
 272690 
 
I •so • to , 
 
 2 Transactions of the Canadian Institute. [vol. x 
 
 than 8 per cent, of the total land area, or, say, 78,000,000 acres farmed or 
 under settlement for agricultural purposes. Or, to consider the three 
 western provinces only, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta, since it 
 is towards them to-day the agricultural eyes of the world are more 
 particularly directed, there are in this area, it is estimated, at from 
 170,000,000 to 200,000,000 acres suitable for cultivation, the greater 
 part of which is adapted to wheat growing. Notwithstanding the rapid 
 settlement of this vast land in recent years, probably not more than 
 8 per cent, is under tillage. 
 
 And it must not be supposed that the present provinces of Canada 
 contain all our agricultural land. To the north and west of the Dominion 
 lie the Territories of Mackenzie, Athabasca, and Yukon, and, leaving out 
 of consideration the last named, it has been computed that there are at 
 least 500,000,000 acres much of which may ultimately be capable of 
 settlement. As yet we may be said to know very little as to the agricul- 
 tural possibilities of this vast area, but this we can record, that wheat 
 has been ripened at a number of points throughout it, as at Dun vegan 
 and Fort Vermilion on the Peace River, the former 414 and the latter 
 591 miles north of the latitude of Winnipeg, and still farther north, as 
 at Forts Providence and Simpson on the Mackenzie River, within 5 
 degrees of the Arctic Circle. Four years ago 30,000 bushels of wheat 
 were harvested at Fort Vermilion, and there is satisfactory evidence 
 that the Peace River country and much land even farther north will be 
 found capable of producing wheat of excellent quality. Our northern 
 limit for wheat growing is yet unknown. 
 
 And as to the value of our agricultural products as compared with 
 the value of our other natural resources, let me say very briefly that 
 according to the latest official statistics the total value for 1910 of farm 
 products (field crops, live stock, fruits, poultry, dairy products, etc.) 
 in Canada, consumed and exported, may be estimated in round num- 
 bers at $1,150,000,000, while for the fisheries we have for 1910-11 
 $29,965,433, for one year's cut (1909) from our forests $166,000,000, 
 and for the mineral products (191 1) $102,291,686. 
 
 If the foregoing has made good our contention as to the place of 
 agriculture in Canada's development and prosperity, it is not to be 
 wondered at that our governments, federal and provincial, should have 
 shown such activity and generosity in recent years in providing means 
 and establishing the necessary machinery for education in farming 
 matters, for the solution of such agricultural problems as require scientific 
 research and for giving assistance in such ways as may be practicable to 
 the individual farmer in his everyday work. In the Dominion Experi- 
 mental Farm system, the subject of my address to-night, we have the 
 
1913] The Work of the Dominion Experimental Farms. 3 
 
 chief means whereby the Federal Government has for more than two 
 decades striven to assist and encourage Canadian agriculture. 
 
 In the year 1884 a Special Committee was appointed by the House 
 of Commons to inquire into the causes for the depression that had for 
 some years been experienced in Canadian agriculture and to suggest 
 measures which might lead to a more prosperous condition of our farmers. 
 This committee did its work thoroughly and well. In its report it was 
 shown that farming methods, speaking generally, were primitive in 
 character, irrational and wasteful, and that there was a widespread 
 ignorance of those principles which must be observed if agriculture is to 
 be placed and maintained on a permanent and profitable basis. Though 
 there were some good farmers here £ind there throughout the country, 
 who, by a judicious rotation of crops and the feeding of stock, kept up the 
 fertility of their land, the rank and file were steadily impoverishing the 
 soil, depleting it of plant food, by the sale of grain, hay, and potatoes, 
 without any concomitant return as manure or fertiliser. And what was 
 equally serious, as has been shown more particularly by our study of 
 worn or partially exhausted soils, during the past twenty years, was the 
 destruction of the humus or organic content of the soil following the 
 irrational treatment of the land. We have come to regard humus as 
 one of the soil's most important constituents, its loss not merely lowering 
 the available food supply, but affecting disastrously those soil conditions, 
 physical and biological, so desirable — nay, necessary — for the thrifty 
 and vigorous growth of our farm crops. In a word, not only were crop 
 yields going down, but for the most part the land under cultivation was 
 markedly deteriorating. 
 
 After reviewing the condition of farming generally in Eastern Canada, 
 for at that time the great North- West was scarcely entered upon, and 
 asserting that the extremely unsatisfactory condition of our agriculture 
 was largely due to haphazard and faulty methods, and certainly 
 not the result of inherent deficiencies in our virgin soils or unfavourable 
 climatic conditions, the Committee recommended as the chief remedial 
 measure the establishment of Experimental Farms, which should be 
 centres for experimentation and research in field and laboratory and the 
 dissemination of information in all matters pertaining to agriculture, 
 general and specialised. The report received the approval of the Govern- 
 ment, and during the following session of Parliament, 1885-6, an Act 
 was introduced and passed, almost unanimously, authorising the Domin- 
 ion Government to establish a system comprising a Central Experimental 
 Farm at Ottawa and four branch farms. The Hon. John Carling, then 
 Minister of Agriculture, warmly favoured the proposed scheme, and lost 
 no time in putting it into force. His first act was the appointment of 
 
4 Transactions of the Canadian Institute. [vol. x 
 
 William Saunders, of Lx)ndon, Ontario, as Director of the system, this 
 gentleman having already by special request examined into and reported 
 upon agricultural experimental work in Europe and the United States. 
 This choice proved a most fortunate one, for it is to the initiative, enthu- 
 siasm and the untiring energy of Dr. Saunders, who held the Director- 
 ship of the Experimental Farms from their establishment in 1886 till 
 April, 191 1, when he retired owing to ill health and advancing years, 
 that the signal success of the system has been in a very large measure 
 due. He had at the time of his appointment won recognition of a high 
 order in the sciences of Chemistry and Botany and Entomology, and 
 further, he brought to bear upon his work a very considerable experience 
 in experimental agriculture and horticulture and in the art of landscape 
 gardening. In the subsequent years he received many honours and dis- 
 tinctions from learned societies and universities at home and abroad, and 
 for his invaluable work in promoting the interests of Canadian agricul- 
 ture was in 1905 created by His Majesty, the late King Edward VII, a 
 Companion of the Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint 
 George. Canada certainly owes a great debt of gratitude to Dr. Saunders 
 for the splendid work he did for this country during the twenty-five years 
 of his directorship of the Dominion Experimental Farms. 
 
 The five farms, the establishment of which was authorised in the Act 
 of 1886, were all located and fairly well under way before the close of 
 1888. The sites for these were carefully chosen, not merely having in 
 view readiness of access, as on a through line of railway, and, if pos- 
 sible, proximity to a large centre, but also the securing of land of a char- 
 acter representative of the district to be served. 
 
 The Central Farm, intended for the provinces of Ontario and Quebec, 
 and to be the headquarters of the chief administrative officers and 
 scientific staff of the system, was located at Ottawa. Here are the 
 Chemical, Botanical and Entomological and other laboratories, fully 
 equipped and with a force of trained men necessary .to cope with the 
 many problems requiring scientific investigation. The Farm, which is on 
 the confines of the city, comprises in all some 465 acres. Of these about 
 100 acres are devoted to experimental work under the, care of the Horti- 
 culturist, comprising 46 acres in fruits and vegetables, 21 acres in forest 
 belt and tree plantations, and 33 acres in ornamental grounds and 
 nurseries. From 25 to 30 acres are under the control of the Cerealist, 
 for test plots and other investigatory work with the various grains. An 
 Arboretum or Botanic Garden, under the care of the Botanist, occupies 
 about 60 acres. The remainder, about 275 acres, furnishes the land neces- 
 sary for carrying on the experiments in field and animal husbandry. 
 
 The four original branch farms were located as follows: Nappan,Nova 
 
i9>3] The Work of the Dominion Experimental Farms. s 
 
 Scotia, for the Maritime Provinces; Brandon, Manitoba; Indian Head, 
 Saskatchewan,for the area then comprising the North-West Territories; 
 and at Agassiz, British Columbia, a point some 80 miles east of Van- 
 couver, on the main line of the Canadian Pacific Railway. These, with 
 the Central Farm, comprised the system until 1906, when the rapid 
 settlement of Alberta seemed to demand points of investigation in that 
 province. There was accordingly established in that year an Experi- 
 mental Station for Southern Alberta at Lethbridge, for the purpose of 
 studying problems in relation to the growth of crops under irrigation as 
 well as those involved in agriculture under the so-called Dry Farming 
 methods. In the year following (1907) a second Experimental Station for 
 Alberta was established. This was located at Lacombe, about 115 miles 
 north of Calgary, the climatic conditions and the nature of the soil in 
 this part of Alberta being markedly different from those in the southern 
 section of the province. 
 
 In 1908 an Experimental Station for Central Saskatchewan was 
 located and equipped at Rosthern, within half a mile of the town of that 
 name on the Canadian Northern Railway, and in 1910, a similar station 
 for Northern Saskatchewan was established at Scott, on the line of the 
 Grand Trunk Pacific Railway. 
 
 An Experimental Station for Prince Edward Island was estab- 
 lished in 1909 at Charlottetown, occupying land on the outskirts of 
 that city. 
 
 Still more recent (191 1) are the two Experimental Stations placed 
 in the Province of Quebec, the one at Cap Rouge, on the north shore of 
 the St. Lawrence, near the city of Quebec, the other at Ste. Anne de la 
 Pocati^re, on the south shore, for the easterly portion of Quebec. 
 
 This year (1912) four more stations have been established, two in 
 the East, at Kentville, Nova Scotia, and Fredericton, New Brunswick, 
 and two in the West, at Sidney, on Vancouver Island, and the other at 
 Invermere, on the Columbia River, British Colubmia. 
 
 The system, therefore, at the time of writing comprises sixteen 
 farms and stations, four of which are in their first year of operation. 
 The establishment of several more stations is now under consideration, 
 to meet the urgent demand by new settlers for special investigation in 
 hitherto unoccupied territory. The multiplication of stations is made 
 necessary by the varying climatic conditions prevailing in different parts 
 of the Dominion, for it must be borne in mind that climatic conditions, 
 rather than character of the soil, form the most potent factor in deter- 
 mining the nature and the possibilities of agriculture in any particular 
 district. 
 
 The branch farms and stations are in charge of superintendents 
 
6 Transactions of the Canadian Institute. [vol. x 
 
 who are in constant communication with the Director and chief officers 
 at the Central Farm, by whom the principal lines of investigation, with 
 details of procedure, are laid down. 
 
 In addition to the foregoing, experimental work is carried on at a 
 number of sub-stations, as at Fort Vermilion, on the Peace River, at 
 Kamloops, and at Salmon Arm, British Columbia, and at Forts Smith, 
 Resolution and Providence, towards the northerly limits of our agricul- 
 tural areas. 
 
 It would not be possible in the course of this address to enter into 
 any detailed account of the work of the chief officers at the Central Farm 
 — the supervision and management of the whole system by the Director, 
 the planning of experiments in field crops by the Field Husbandman, and 
 with animals by the Animal Husbandman, the testing of varieties and 
 the selection and breeding of new cereals and their distribution by the 
 Cerealist, the improvement of our grasses and fodder crops by the Agros- 
 tologist — the investigatory work with all classes of fruits and vegetables, 
 including the originating and propagation of good varieties suited to the 
 climatic conditions prevailing in the different parts of our Dominion, and 
 the study of forestry problems by the Horticulturist — the feeding and 
 care of poultry for eggs and marketable birds by the Poultry Manager — 
 the thousand and one problems requiring chemical investigation for their 
 solution coming within the purview of the Chemist, with soils and the 
 economic maintenance of their fertility, with manures and fertilisers, 
 with fodder crops and all classes of stock foods, with spraying materials 
 for the control of insect and fungus pests, with cultural methods for the 
 conservation of soil moisture, with farm water supplies, and with a host 
 of other questions, for the Chemist's work is intimately interwoven with 
 that of all the divisions of agricultural research — the investigatory work 
 of the Botanist and Bacteriologist, whose studies are more particularly 
 with a view to the control and extermination of those vegetable organisms 
 which if allowed to propagate, would do enormous damage in our orchards 
 and to other farm crops, and, finally, the equally important work of the 
 Entomologist, who has the administration of the Destructive Insect and 
 Pest Act, and whose constant study and care is to prevent or control 
 the ravages of those injurious insects which, if permitted to flourish, 
 would disastrously affect our fruit and forest trees, our field and garden 
 crops, our farm live stock and even man himself. For all this I must refer 
 you to the twenty-six annual reports of the Experimental Farms and the 
 numerous bulletins issued by the Farm during the past quarter of a 
 century. Or if you wish a more succinct account I can refer you to a 
 "Guide to the Experimental Farms and Stations", issued two months 
 ago, which contains a very readable outline of our varied activities. 
 
1913] The Work of the Dominion Experimental Farms 7 
 
 For our present purpose, therefore, I have selected from our work a 
 number of examples that may be considered typical of the whole and 
 illustrative of the results achieved in the various lines of investigation. 
 They are merely indicative; many others might be cited equally or 
 possibly more important to Canadian agriculture, if time permitted. 
 And I must present them in|the briefest possible language. 
 
 The Maintenance and Increase of Soil Fertility. 
 
 This is a problem of fundamental importance, since a productive 
 soil must be considered a sine qua non whether general farming or one of 
 its specialised branches is to be pursued with profit. Our study of 
 Canadian soils has shown many points of difference between those 
 naturally poor and those naturally rich, between those which have been 
 exhausted by irrational and wasteful methods and those farmed accord- 
 ing to the dictates of common sense and the teachings of science. 
 
 The richest soils in Canada are the black loams of the great north- 
 western plains, many of which have been shown to contain from 18,000 
 lbs. to 25,000 lbs. of nitrogen, from 4,000 lbs. to 6,000 lbs. of phosphoric 
 acid, and from 10,000 lbs. to 15,000 lbs. of potash, per acre, calculated 
 to a depth of i foot — amounts of these essential elements of plant food 
 far in excess of those ordinarily found in soils of the best quality. This 
 great fertility must, as far as possible, be conserved, maintained, if this 
 national heritage, this valuable asset, is to be handed on as it ought to be, 
 unimpaired for future generations. 
 
 Many of our poorest lands are to be found in the East — the districts 
 first settled. These soils very probably never equalled in richness those 
 of the prairie provinces, but irrational methods have gradually but 
 surely impoverished them. Their fertility must be increased if farming 
 in these districts is to be placed on a profitable basis. 
 
 What is the outstanding difference between these virgin soils of 
 high fertility, of great productiveness, and those worn, exhausted soils? 
 It is that the former are characterised by large percentages of semi- 
 decomposed organic matter (humus) and nitrogen, whereas the latter 
 show but meagre amounts of these constituents. 
 
 Further, we find, save in the semi-arid districts of the far West, that 
 there is distinct relationship between the organic content and that of 
 the nitrogen, that methods which destroy the former reduce the latter, 
 and vice versa. The humus of the soil is Nature's storehouse for its reserve 
 nitrogen, slowly made available for crop use through the agency of bac- 
 terial life under favourable soil and climatic conditions. The important 
 functions of humus — physical, chemical and biological — are only begin- 
 
8 Transactions of the Canadian Institute. [vol. x 
 
 ning to be realised by our farmers, indeed by agricultural chemists — 
 and we might very easily devote a whole evening to their consideration: 
 But time now forbids. As an outcome, however, of this investigatory 
 work is one fact that must not lightly be passed over. It is that the 
 percentage of nitrogen, under ordinary circumstances, is a direct index 
 of a soil's fertility, that nitrogen is the most important, the dominant, 
 the limiting factor determining crop production. In a very real sense it 
 is true that a soil's fertility may be measured by its richness in nitrogen. 
 In saying this I do not wish to be understood as minimising the import- 
 ance of the other elements of plant food furnished by the soil, but rather 
 as emphasising the unique place which soil nitrogen holds and the neces- 
 sity for its up-keep. And we have also in this connection the comforting 
 fact that in rational, economic methods of enriching a soil in nitrogen we 
 have the opportunity, constantly as it were, of keeping up a goodly supply 
 of available phosphoric acid, potash and lime,and in preserving a favour- 
 able physical condition of the soil. 
 
 We must now pass on to consider briefly the methods that lead to 
 the destruction of the humus and the dissipation of nitrogen, and on the 
 other hand the means to be employed for the up-keep and increase of 
 these constituents. 
 
 Their depletion, for instance, follows inevitably the practice of con- 
 tinuous grain growing, as commonly found, for example, to-day in the 
 North-West, interspersed as it is with occasional summer fallowing for the 
 purpose of conserving moisture and the eradication of weeds. Under 
 such a system an investigation carried on at one of our Western Prairie 
 Farms showed that in 22 years the soil lost to a depth of 8 inches more 
 than 2,000 lbs. of nitrogen per acre, of which approximately 700 lbs. had 
 been removed in the crops and the balance, 1,300 lbs., had been dissi- 
 pated by the constant cultivation of the soil without any addition of 
 humus-forming material. This soil is still an exceedingly rich one, and 
 capable yet for many years of bearing maximum crops in favourable 
 seasons, but chemistry tells the tale of impoverishment, and says that 
 other methods must be adopted if the land is to be maintained in its high 
 state of fertility. 
 
 We have areas in certain districts of the Maritime Provinces and 
 Quebec once tilled and cropped, but now abandoned since they can no 
 longer be profitably farmed. All taken, nothing put back. Their humus 
 and nitrogen content have been largely dissipated, and this is undoubtedly 
 the chief cause of their present unproductiveness. Ex nihilo nihil fit. 
 Nature, in her slow but sure methods, is again restoring these worn-out, 
 abandoned lands by covering them with vegetation, but soil building by 
 
1 91 3] The Work of the Dominion Experimental Farms. 9 
 
 this process is extremely slow. The unwise farmer can do more harm to 
 a soil in a decade than Nature can remedy possibly in centuries. 
 
 How, then, are soils to be maintained in a productive state and 
 at the same time yield a profit for their working? First, in the keeping of 
 live stock ; in the manure so obtained we have the opportunity of restor- 
 ing to the soil eight-tenths of the plant food taken from it in the crops 
 they consume. In manures we have or ought to have the necessary and 
 natural by-product of every farm. The farmer should recognise it as the 
 home supply of plant food and humus-forming material — the chief means 
 of holding and increasing the productiveness of his soils. This truth is 
 not as yet fully realised by all our people. We do not keep sufficient 
 live stock on our farms. 
 
 Many investigations have been conducted with manures, their 
 right care and application, but we cannot now enter upon details. We 
 have determined the tremendous losses in plant food, especially nitrogen, 
 and in organic matter, that ensue by leaching and fermentation, when 
 the manure is allowed to lie for months, as it frequently is, in loose heaps 
 in the open barnyard. We have showed that while manure rotted under 
 good conditions contains, weight for weight, more plant food than fresh 
 manure, yet the losses in rotting may and very frequently do, out- 
 balance the benefits. Our field and laboratory work alike prove that the 
 safest storehouse for manure is the soil, and that the farmer who gets his 
 manure while still fresh into the soil returns to it for the future use of his 
 crops much more plant nourishment than he who allows the manure to 
 accumulate in piles that receive little or no care, and which, therefore, 
 must waste by excessive fermentation and leaching, or both. 
 
 Secondly, the land must be put under a proper rotation of crops. 
 There are many reasons for this, chemical and physical. We have 
 already learnt the disastrous effect on the soil's humus and nitrogen by 
 continuous grain growing; the same would be .true if we endeavoured to 
 grow a hoed crop, as potatoes, for instance, year after year. The soil must 
 be enriched by the sowing of a sod-forming, fibre-producing crop — in 
 other words, the land must be occasionally laid down to grass. Much 
 work has been done at almost all the Experimental Farms in testing out 
 the merits and economy of different rotations, to meet the varying needs 
 and conditions of agriculture as found in widely distant parts of the 
 Dominion. As a lesson to be learnt from this work it may be stated that 
 the Central Experimental Farm records furnish a number of examples 
 of the good effects of proper cultural methods and right rotations upon 
 the crop-producing powers of soils. As among the most striking might 
 be cited the following: 
 
 In 1899 a system of crop rotation was introduced on that part of 
 
lo Transactions of the Canadian Institute. [vol. x 
 
 the Central Farm devoted to general agriculture. At certain fixed prices 
 for various products the value of the crop harvested that year was 
 $2,776.66. Using the same prices as in 1899, the value of the crops off 
 the same area in 1911 was $5,478.90, and will be considerably greater 
 than this in 1912, all figures for which crops are not yet available. This 
 shows the effect of good cultivation and right rotations on a given area. 
 
 As illustrative of the effects of such treatment upon the returns 
 and profits possible from an acre of land the following figures are 
 illuminating : 
 
 In 1910, according to the Census and Statistics Monthly, the crop 
 value per acre throughout Canada was $15.50. The cost to produce 
 this crop was about $9.60 per acre, therefore the net profit per acre was 
 almost $6.00. On the Central Experimental Farm, using the same 
 prices or values, the crop was worth $44.13 per acre produced at a cost 
 of about $12.65 per acre. This leaves a net profit of $31.48 per acre 
 for the Experimental Farm as compared with $6.00 for the average 
 farmer or over five times as great a net profit. In 1911 the difference 
 was quite as striking, while the returns for 1912 promise to be still more 
 markedly in favour of the superior cultural methods which undoubtedly 
 account for the difference. These and similar results are proving of 
 the greatest value to the farmer of this country. 
 
 We may now proceed to say something of our investigatory work 
 with legumes. Nature's soil enrichers, the only crop that leaves the soil 
 with more nitrogen than it found in it. 
 
 The legumes constitute that great family to which the clovers, 
 alfalfa, peas, beans and the like belong, and which alone of all farm crops 
 are able to draw for their sustenance from that vast store of free nitro- 
 gen present in the atmosphere. This they are enabled to do — not of 
 themselves, but through the agency of certain nitrogen-fixing bacteria 
 in the soil and which attach themselves and reside in nodules or tubercles 
 upon the roots of the legumes, passing on their elaborated nitrogen to 
 their host for the building up of its tissues of root, stem, and leaf. The 
 ancients knew of the value of clover as a soil enricher, but it was only in 
 1886 that Hellriegel and Wilfarth discovered the reason why. It was 
 the agricultural discovery of the century, and the practical results fol- 
 lowing from it have proved of far-reaching importance and value. 
 
 For twenty-five years we have assiduously studied this question of 
 the use of legumes as manurial agents in all its phases — in the field and 
 orchard, in the experimental plot and in the laboratory — and we have 
 also established their place as nutritive fodders of the highest rank. 
 We have determined the amounts of nitrogen appropriated from the air 
 and stored up in the roots, stem, and foliage of a large number of these 
 
1913] The Work of the Dominion Experimental Farms. ii 
 
 legumes. We have noted the increase of yield in crops succeeding 
 them; we have ascertained the increase of soil nitrogen due to their 
 growth, and we have investigated the merits of the various cultures put 
 upon the market for inoculation of the soil with the nitrogen-fixing bac- 
 teria. The results of these researches would occupy several volumes, 
 but I must try to condense them into two or three sentences. 
 
 Analyses have shown that from 75 to 150 lbs. of nitrogen may be 
 stored up in a season, per acre, by the more common legumes. This is 
 very largely from the atmosphere if the roots of the crop are nodule- 
 bearing. The ploughing under of such a crop adds to the soil's store of 
 reserve nitrogen, we may say, as much as would be furnished by an 
 application of 10 tons of good barnyard manure. And this is but one 
 of many advantages of this system of soil improvement. The plan of 
 sowing clover with the cereal crops is now common in the older parts 
 of the Dominion, and it is proving a very valuable one in the enrichment 
 of our soils. The adoption of this method is, I believe, very largely 
 due to the teachings of the Experimental Farms. 
 
 As regards increase in crop yields after clover, I nray cite one of 
 our many experiments. Series I comprised two adjacent plots, the one 
 carrying clover the other carrying wheat. In the succeeding year both 
 were planted with fodder corn; the crop from the clover plot exceeded 
 that of the adjoining by 8 tons 480 lbs. per acre. In the following 
 year both plots were sown with oats; the original clover plot gave 23 
 bus. 18 lbs. more per acre than its neighbour. Further, the third year 
 after clover, both were planted with sugar Deets ; the yield from the plot 
 that had borne the legume was 13 tons 1400 lbs. per acre more than that 
 of the wheat plot. We invariably obtained an increased yield on the land 
 that had carried the clover or other legume, for at least three years to 
 a marked degree. Evidence of this practical nature is overwhelm- 
 ingly convincing of the manurial value of the legumes. 
 
 In the determination by direct analysis of the soil of the amount 
 of nitrogen that might become part and parcel of the soil through the 
 continuous growth of clover, the results of one experiment may be 
 cited. This plot of very poor sandy soil was first sown with clover in 
 1902, ten years ago, and has been continuously under that crop since 
 that date. The soil was enriched at the outset with phosphoric acid 
 and potash but no nitrogen was added. The nitrogen content was 
 taken at the beginning of the experiment and every second year since. 
 The net gain in organic nitrogen at the end of the ten-year period was 
 approximately 500 lbs. in the first 4 inches of soil per acre. From other 
 work we assume that the loss of nitrogen from various causes in such a 
 light soil as that under experiment — almost a pure sand — must at least 
 
12 Transactions of the Canadian Institute. [vol. x 
 
 equal the net gain, so that we may conclude the clover added to the 
 soil in the neighbourhood of lOO lbs. per acre per annum. 
 
 And lastly, in this connection I have to speak of our work with 
 bacterial cultures for inoculating the soil with those nitrogen-fixing or- 
 ganisms that permit the legume to draw upon the store of free nitrogen 
 in the atmosphere. The details of this investigation are very volumi- 
 nous, for the merits of many European, American and Canadian cultures 
 have been tested in pots and, on a larger scale, in half-acre plots. It 
 must suffice now to say that while some proved effective in promoting the 
 growth of the legumes, many proved worthless, no doubt due largely 
 to the susceptibility of the organisms in the cultures to light and heat. 
 Their vitality becomes seriously impaired with the keeping of the pre- 
 paration. Cultures, therefore, unless fresh cannot be depended upon, and 
 experience has taught us that the best inoculating material for clover 
 or alfalfa is the surface soil from a field that has recently grown clover 
 or alfalfa. 
 
 About 300 lbs. of soil are required per acre, broadcasted and har- 
 rowed in. This is the surest and most direct method of inoculation. 
 Such soil can be obtained from nearly all the Experimental Farms on 
 payment of a small fee to cover the necessary freight charges. 
 
 Though it has been conclusively shown that there are districts in 
 which inoculation is useful, it should be noted that inoculation is not 
 generally necessary. The nitrogen-fixing bacteria are not restricted to 
 a few small or isolated areas — our observations have proved that — and 
 we have reason to believe that many failures with clover have been due 
 to lack of moisture, poverty in humus, sourness or an unfavourable me- 
 chanical condition of the soil, rather than to absence of these valuable 
 organisms. 
 
 Perhaps at this juncture I should say something of the use of the 
 so-called chemical or commercial fertilisers. Have they a place in a 
 rational, economic farming system? We Delieve they have, but it must 
 be secondary to the means I have outlined for the up-keep of fertility. 
 Fertilisers are no substitute for farm manures, though they can fre- 
 quently be used profitably as supplemental to manures. They furnish 
 plant food in available forms, but they do not add humus-forming ma- 
 terial, so necessary to the formation of a comfortable habitat for plants 
 and the retention of a due proportion of moisture. They are frequently 
 a snare to the poor farmer who depends solely upon them, but they 
 may be employed with great profit at times by one who conducts his 
 operations on rational lines. The farmer who would use them with 
 profit must keep up the organic content of his soil and be prepared to 
 do some experimental work. In general farming they have not as yet 
 
1913] The Work of the Dominion Experimental Farms. 13 
 
 been largely employed, nor do we advise such use unless the farmer 
 understands their character and properties; but the time is coming, 
 especially in the older portions of the country, when they will be more 
 extensively employed. Hitherto it has been the fruit grower or other 
 specialist who has reaped the greatest benefit from them. 
 
 Field Crops. 
 
 Experimental work with the ordinary farm crops has naturally re- 
 ceived much attention. The influence of rotations and of drainage, the 
 cultivation of the soil and its manuring, the preparation of a good seed 
 bed, the effect of early and late seeding, the use of pure seed of strong 
 vitality and many other factors in crop production have been carefully 
 and thoroughly studied. 
 
 The testing of newly introduced varieties of all classes of crops has' 
 always been a strong feature. These include cereals, grasses and forage 
 and farm crops generally. An annual bulletin on the subject informs 
 the farmer as to the merits and yields of the different varieties and 
 strains offered for sale by seedsmen. The plot and field work in many 
 instances is supplemented by analysis, so that we have been able to 
 place on record data as to the composition and nutritive values of many 
 grasses, native and introduced, of varieties of Indian corn as grown for 
 fodders and the silo, of different strains of mangels, carrots, turnips, 
 etc., etc. We have also worked out the stage of growth at which Indian 
 corn, certain grasses, clovers, etc., should be cut, so that the harvested 
 material may be at its best, both as to composition and digestibility. 
 The excellent quality of the self-cured western prairie grasses has also 
 been demonstrated. 
 
 Sugar-beets for Factory Purposes. 
 
 The more important factory varieties of sugar-beets have been 
 grown on the larger number of the Experimental Farms and Stations. 
 Representative samples of these are submitted to analysis year by year, 
 as to sugar content and purity. We have ample evidence that as re- 
 gards these two important points very satisfactory sugar-beets can be 
 grown in many parts of Canada. 
 
 Canadian Cereals. 
 
 Red Fife wheat as grown in the Canadian North-West has earned 
 for the Dominion the enviable reputation of being one of the finest 
 wheat-producing countries in the world. The very high breadmaking 
 qualities of the flour from Red Fife is admitted in all the markets of the 
 world. There remained, however, an important field for experimenta- 
 
14 Transactions of the Canadian Institute. [vol. x 
 
 tion in the production of earlier ripening varieties, better suited 
 to northern areas of the Dominion, characterised by a short season. 
 This problem of finding a spring wheat of the quality of Red Fife but 
 which would ripen before there was danger of early autumnal frosts was 
 entered upon in the early days of the Farm System and from that time 
 until now many hundreds of new kinds have been produced by cross- 
 breeding, using for this work chiefly Red Fife and early ripening sorts 
 from India and Northern Russia. Among the new cross-bred varieties 
 of very high productiveness and of early ripening habit are the Marquis, 
 Preston and Huron, the first named being the most noteworthy. Mar- 
 quis is now displacing the others (and also Red Fife) in many wheat 
 areas of the North- West. It is about a week earlier in ripening than 
 Red Fife, produces usually from io% to 60% more crop (in Saskat- 
 chewan) and yields flour of the same character as Red Fife. It won 
 the highest award this year and last year in international competitions 
 open to the world for the best hard wheat. 
 
 Prelude, just being introduced, ripens about two weeks before 
 Marquis and gives a good yield of very hard plump wheat. Its flour is 
 of the highest rank for baking strength but has a slightly yellowish tinge. 
 This wheat may prove of the greatest value in Northern Saskatchewan 
 and other northern districts, in which specially early ripening sorts 
 must be grown to escape frosts. 
 
 Concurrently with this research by the Cerealist and to supplement 
 his results in the Baking laboratory, chemical and physical analyses 
 have been made of many of the cross-bred wheats so obtained. The 
 information so gained has proved of considerable assistance in discrimi- 
 nating between these new varieties. 
 
 In barleys more than a hundred cross-bred sorts are now being 
 studied. A selected type of Manchurian has been introduced with 
 excellent results. 
 
 A new cross-bred variety of peas, the Arthur, has proved the earliest 
 of all-round yellow field peas and of unusual productiveness. It is now 
 being actively introduced with very gratifying results in almost all 
 sections of the country. 
 
 ' "H' The annual distribution of seed grain is an important work also 
 in charge of the Dominion Cerealist. Samples of new and improved 
 varieties of wheat, oats and barley have, on application, been sent to 
 farmers who will undertake to sow them according to instructions and 
 report on the growth, yield obtained, etc. By this means information 
 has been obtained as to the merits of different varieties under widely 
 varying conditions of soil and climate, and much good achieved by the 
 introduon and dissemination of the bestts of grain. 
 
1913] The Work of the Dominion Experimental Farms. 15 
 
 Reference has already been made to investigations carried on con- 
 jointly by the Cereal Division and the Division of Chemistry, and as a 
 further illustration of this class of work I may cite our search for a chem- 
 ical basis for determining the breadmaking value of a flour, an analytical 
 method that would give results in accord with those from direct baking 
 trials. Our data on this matter are perhaps more voluminous than 
 satisfactory, but nevertheless we have made some headway in determin- 
 ing "strength" of flour by chemical means. We have in certain very 
 important particulars been able to correlate the baking and chemical 
 results. 
 
 The influence of soil and climatic condition on the composition of 
 wheat and barley has been carefully and- systematically studied for a 
 number of years by the Chemical Division. This research has thrown 
 much light on the cause of the high quality of our northwestern -grown 
 wheats. We have found that the amount of available soil moisture 
 together with the temperature prevailing during the period in which 
 the grain is filling are important factors in determining the character 
 of the grain. A fairly dry soil accompanied by high maximum tem- 
 peratures, such as we usually find over large areas over the North-West 
 during later summer months, arrest vegetative growth of the plant, 
 hasten maturity and conduce to a hard berry with a high percentage of 
 gluten. On the other hand, grain grown with an abundance of moisture 
 and conditions conducive to the lengthening of the vegetative period 
 will be starchy and "soft". The highest type of malting barley is one 
 possessing a low percentage of protein, and such we may look for when 
 grown under irrigation. 
 
 Among other investigations in which the Cereal and Chemical 
 Divisions have collaborated may be mentioned, "The influence of arti- 
 ficial bleaching on the quality of flour" and "The influence of storage 
 on the composition and breadmaking value of flour". 
 
 Horticultural Work. 
 
 We must now pass on to speak of the experimental work in the 
 field of horticulture, a very wide and varied field, and a work that has 
 yielded most valuable results to the fruit-growing interests in all parts 
 of the Dominion. Here, as all through this account of our investiga- 
 tions, I can only take a few examples which may illustrate the scope and 
 character of the work. 
 
 And, first, in connection with apple growing, I would remind you 
 of the classic work of Dr. William Saunders in his attempt to obtain 
 an apple that would endure the rigorous winters of the prairie provinces. 
 This was begun in 1894 by cross-fertilising the flowers of the extremely 
 
i6 Transactions of the Canadian Institute. [vol. x 
 
 hardy Pyrus baccata with pollen from many of the hardiest and best sorts 
 of apples grown in Ontario. Many hundreds of such crosses were made, 
 and later many hundreds of seedlings from the first generation were 
 raised. Almost all of these proved perfectly hardy under the severe 
 tests they were submitted to in the North- West, and their fruit, though 
 small, was found admirable for jelly-making. Second crosses were made 
 using cultivated varieties, and from these and other crosses trees have 
 been grown that apparently are hardy and which have yielded fruit of 
 fair size and in some cases of excellent quality. 
 
 Of the many lines of experimentation now being carried on in apple 
 breeding and testing by the Dominion Horticulturist, the following may 
 be cited : (i) The testing of varieties as to hardiness, prolificness, flavour 
 of fruit, etc., when grown in widely distant points throughout the Do- 
 minion. (2) The testing of seedlings from seed of between 400 and 500 
 named varieties growing in our orchards at Ottawa. This means that 
 only one parent of these seedlings is known, natural pollination having 
 taken place from other trees in the orchard, many of which furnish 
 apples of the best flavour and quality. Many of these seedlings have 
 fruited and the result's are surprisingly good. Over 70 per cent, have 
 been found of marketable size and of good quality. (3) Cross-breeding 
 experiments have been conducted for the past 12 years, more particularly 
 with the view of obtaining hardy, vigorous trees producing an apple of 
 good flavour and of long-keeping quality. Only a few of the trees so 
 produced have as yet fruited, but the prospects of success are excellent. 
 (4) Individualism in apple trees is being investigated. For 15 years the 
 yields from the trees under experiment have been recorded, and as a 
 result it has been noted that a marked variation as regards prolificness 
 exists between trees of the same variety and age and grown under the 
 same conditions. Some trees have yielded from two to four times as 
 much as others. Scions have been taken from these heavier yielding 
 trees and top grafted to learn if this individuality can be perpetuated. 
 
 In all sorts of small fruits and vegetables testing is carried on at 
 Ottawa and on the branch farms. As a result we are in a position to 
 advise as to the best varieties suitable for growth in the different parts 
 of Canada. 
 
 Cover crops for orchards have long been under experiment, for 
 protecting the roots of trees in winter and adding humus and plant food 
 when ploughed under. For the most part these crops have been legumes 
 or nitrogen-gatherers (clover, vetches, beans, etc.), but some others, 
 such as rape and rye, have been included. The system of orchard 
 management which comprises the use of cover crops with clean culture 
 is now widely adopted ; it appears to be the most economic and effective 
 
1913] The Work of the Dominion Experimental Farms. 17 
 
 method for the control of soil moisture, the up-keep of fertility and 
 winter protection of the trees. In a large part of this work the Chemical 
 Division has co-operated, so that the information gained might be as 
 complete as possible. 
 
 We were, I believe, the first in Canada to advocate the spraying 
 of orchards, and experimental work in connection with this practical 
 and effective means of controlling insect and fungus pests has always 
 been a prominent feature of our horticultural programme. Much ad- 
 vance has been made in the last twenty years in this matter, and the 
 data obtained in the orchards of the Central Farm with Bordeaux 
 mixture, various arsenites and arsenates, lime sulphides, etc., etc., have 
 enabled us to advise our fruit growers respecting the value and use of 
 the various manufactured and home-made fungicides and insecticides. 
 In this inquiry chemical work as to the composition and preparation of 
 sprays and spraying materials has gone hand in hand with the practical 
 trials in the orchard and thus made the results more valuable. 
 
 Animal Husbandry. 
 
 Experiments in the breeding, feeding and care of live stock have 
 been carried on at the Central and most of the branch farms. Many 
 lines of work have been conducted with horses, cattle, sheep and swine. 
 One or two examples may suffice to bring before you the character of 
 this work and the value of the results. 
 
 Experiments in beef production have conclusively shown that as 
 the animals more nearly approach a typically beef type, the greater 
 the profit that may be expected. Scrub animals make poor use of their 
 food. 
 
 The economy in feeding a liberal allowance of succulent roughage, 
 e.g., corn ensilage and roots, has been demonstrated, and that among 
 the coarse, dry fodders, clover and alfalfa hays have proved more nu- 
 tritious than the more commonly used timothy hay. 
 
 All the more important concentrates, milling by-products, etc., 
 have been tried in various proportions and well-balanced rations there- 
 from compounded. 
 
 The influence of age on the cost of making gains has been well 
 worked out ; the older the animal the more expensive the increase in live 
 weight. 
 
 More profit is attached to the practice of feeding steers so that 
 they may be ready for the block at an age of two years or less than 
 to the plan of taking three or four years to bring them to a condition 
 fit to kill. 
 
1 8 Transactions of the Canadian Institute. [vol. x 
 
 Dehorned steers, fed in box stalls loose, say 8 or lo together, do better 
 than steers fed tied, on the same food. 
 
 With dairy cattle our experience has shown that as regards milk 
 and butter production individuality is a very important factor. Ad- 
 mitting that we have breeds specially adapted to dairy purposes, e.g., 
 Jersey, Ayrshire, Holstein, etc., the best individual must be looked for 
 among them rather than a comparison made between the breeds. This 
 entails the constant testing of the milk and a daily record of yield. 
 There is no best breed, all points considered. 
 
 The feeding of ensilage or other succulent fodder is essential to cheap 
 milk production, especially in the winter season, and the hays of clover 
 and alfalfa may be used with profit to reduce the meal portion of the 
 ration. 
 
 The practice of "soiling" or feeding green forage allows a larger 
 number of cows to be maintained on a given area than if the land is 
 pastured, and is to be considered as essential to intensive dairying. 
 Many "soiling" crops (e.g., peas, oats, rye, corn and clover) have 
 been tried and reported on with special reference to their value for sup- 
 plementing the pasture during times of drought and as the season ad- 
 vances. 
 
 While the total quantities of milk and butter fat in a given period 
 may be influenced by the feeding, it does not appear that the percent- 
 age of fat is appreciably affected by the character of the feed. 
 
 In the breeding and feeding of swine several thousands of animals 
 have been used. The stock experimented with for the most part has 
 consisted of Yorkshire, Berkshire and Tamworths. Among the more 
 important lines of investigation might be mentioned the breeding of 
 animals specially suited for the production of export bacon. The im- 
 portance of this work is obvious when we remember the very large pro- 
 portions to which our trade with England in this commodity has grown. 
 
 And in this connection I may briefly refer to an exhaustive examina- 
 tion into the character and causes of "Soft Pork" undertaken by the 
 Division of Chemistry — an investigation that lasted three years and in 
 which more than 300 pigs were put under test. We were able to 
 establish by chemical analysis that certain rations, and especially those 
 containing a large proportion of Indian corn, produced an undesirable 
 bacon by reason of the high percentage of olein in its fat. And among 
 other important findings we learnt that there was no better corrective 
 to this undesirable quality of softness than the by-product skim milk, 
 the addition of which to the grain ration tended also to thriftiness and 
 rapid growth. 
 
1913] The Work of the Dominion Experimental Farms 19 
 
 The summer and winter housing of swine and the profitable use 
 of summer pastures and green succulent crops for growing pigs, are 
 among the numerous other matters relating to the swine industry that 
 have been investigated. 
 
 Special attention has been given, more particularly in recent years, 
 to the best construction of buildings for the housing of all classes of 
 farm stock, having in view efficient lighting and ventilation, factors of 
 the highest import to the health and thrift of the animals. 
 
 Experimental Work in Poultry. 
 
 The poultry industry in Canada has of late years rapidly advanced, 
 and to supply the information and advice asked for by the ever-in- 
 creasing number of poultry keepers, much experimental work has been 
 undertaken. This has been chiefly conducted at the Central Farm. 
 
 This work has naturally fallen largely into two lines: The breed- 
 ing, feeding and care for egg production and the breeding and feeding 
 for first-class table fowl, and many valuable data have accumulated in 
 the course of years in both branches. In a very condensed form I may 
 present some of the more important results : 
 
 1. Variety in rations is essential to good egg production, and 
 especially so during the winter season. The value of freshly crushed 
 green bone, meat meal or other good animal food, as well as a certain 
 proportion of green stuff, in addition to the mixed grain feed, has been 
 established. 
 
 2. In egg production, individuals differ widely and our results 
 have shown the wisdom of systematic breeding from hens of known 
 laying capacity. 
 
 3. For properly fattened fowl birds of the right type should be 
 used. They may be fattened in coops, and crushed, sifted oats with 
 barley meal and fine shorts mixed with skim milk has been found a 
 preferable ration and one that has given birds of the highest market 
 value. 
 
 Here as with other classes of live stock, proper housing has been a 
 subject of experiment, and the so-called "cotton-front house" has been 
 found conducive both to the health of the birds and a good egg pro- 
 duction. 
 
 Botanical Work. 
 
 No institution of agricultural research would be complete without 
 a scientific staff and properly equipped laboratories for the study of 
 those parasitic organisms to which are due so many diseases that attack 
 our economic plants. It would appear that as the area under cultiva- 
 
20 Transactions of the Canadian Institute. [vol. x 
 
 tion increases, as cultural methods become more intensive, and "im- 
 proved" varieties of crops are employed, the "improvement" of which 
 consists chiefly in the power of returning under favourable conditions a 
 larger yield, without reference to their power of disease resistance, seri- 
 ous diseases become more frequent in their occurrence and more de- 
 structive in their effects, unless special measures are taken to safe- 
 guard crops against them. Hence there is much work for the plant 
 pathologist who, by microscopic examination and cultural methods in 
 the laboratory and experiments in the greenhouse or field, isolates the 
 organisms which produce the diseases, studies their life history, determines 
 experimentally the conditions under which they become destructive and 
 the measures which may be successfully undertaken for their control. 
 Fungus diseases do much harm to orchard and field crops, reducing 
 yields and lowering the value of such produce as may be obtained. 
 Not infrequently the loss from a single disease of one particular crop 
 may in a season favourable to the disease amount to thousands of dollars, 
 as, for instance, in the case of Fire Blight of apple and pear trees, or 
 smut of wheat, or Late Blight of potatoes. These diseases cannot be 
 ignored. It is doubtful if there is a single crop immune from their attack 
 and, generally speaking, the more important the crop the greater the 
 number of diseases to which it is subject. It is, therefore, the duty of 
 the Botanist to carry on inquiries and investigations respecting the 
 control of the diseases which appear to most seriously interfere with the 
 work of the agriculturist and horticulturist in this country; to keep 
 himself informed of what is being done along similar lines at other centres 
 of investigation; and to utilise the results of his own work and those of 
 his co-workers to furnish to the perplexed cultivator the best informa- 
 tion available on the subject. Among the diseases more particularly 
 under investigation at present are the Silver Leaf of fruit trees, Black 
 Rot of cherry and plum. Scab, " Rhizoctonia " and other diseases of 
 potatoes and Smut diseases of grain. 
 
 The difficult problem of working out methods for the control and 
 eradication of noxious weeds and poisonous plants is another and im- 
 portant feature of the Botanist's work. 
 
 The Botanist also has charge of the Arboretum at the Central 
 Farm in which there is to be found an extensive collection of hardy 
 trees, shrubs and perennials, the result of many years* experimentation 
 with plants from many distant parts of the world. In addition, an 
 effort is being made to gradually bring together a collection of native 
 plants which shall comprise all representatives of the Canadian Flora 
 hardy enough to be grown at the Farm without special protection, to- 
 
*9'3l The Work of the Dominion Experimental Farms h 
 
 gether with such other plants as from their importance in the arts, in- 
 dustries or medicine are of special interest. This Arboretum or Botanic 
 Garden occupies 60 acres in a commanding position, and contributes 
 not only a very pleasant park, but a place of great educational value to 
 the lover of trees and plants. 
 
 Entomological Work. 
 
 As in the case of the Botanist, the Entomologist's chief work is 
 towards the protection of trees and fruits and crops generally against 
 the ravages of pests, but here we have to do with injurious insects that 
 attack and destroy, and which, if left unchecked, would soon make our 
 agriculture profitless. As already intimated, the work of the Entomol- 
 ogist includes the study of insects affecting live stock,such as the horn- 
 fly, ticks, mites, etc. Apiculture and the production of honey also 
 comes within the scope of this study. 
 
 The study of the life history of injurious and beneficial insects 
 carried on in laboratory, insectary, field and forest, is essential as a 
 first step towards the formulating of effective and practicable methods 
 for their control or destruction. It is a work, therefore, of primary 
 importance, and consequently one to which much close attention has 
 been given. 
 
 More recently among the many methods of control is that of keep- 
 ing in check the development and spread of injurious insects by the 
 introduction and distribution of parasitic insects. These natural means 
 of control, as they may be called, bear much promise, and the Dominion 
 Entomologist has already met with some success in this comparatively 
 new sphere of work, and there is great hope that he may still be more 
 successful in stamping out, or at all events in preventing the spread of 
 certain insects otherwise uncontrollable. 
 
 For the purpose of introducing, studying and establishing the 
 natural parasitic enemies of insect pests in localities in which the latter 
 are prevalent, a most important development of the entomological work 
 has been recently made in the equipment of field entomological labora- 
 tories in different parts of Canada. Six such entomological stations 
 were established during the past year, and even in the first year of their 
 history important results have been obtained. One of the most in- 
 teresting of these is the introduction, establishment and proven spread 
 in New Brunswick of an important European parasite of that dangerous 
 pest, the Brown Tail Moth. In Nova Scotia, Quebec, Ontario and British 
 Columbia valuable and encouraging results have already been obtained 
 in the laboratories established in these provinces. 
 
22 Transactions of the Canadian Institute, [vol. x 
 
 The Entomologist has also the administration of the "Destructive 
 Insect and Pest Act", passed in 1910, to prevent the introduction into 
 Canada and spreading of insects and other pests injurious to vegetation. 
 Under the regulations of this Act, trees, shrubs and nursery stock may 
 only be imported into Canada during certain specified periods of the 
 year and through certain ports, of which there are nine in the Dominion. 
 At six of these ports fumigation stations have been established where 
 certain classes of trees and plants are fumigated with hydrocyanic acid 
 to prevent the introduction of San Jos4 and other scale insects. 
 
 Plants from certain countries are inspected either at the port of 
 entry or at their destination. The protective value of this inspection 
 work has been frequently demonstrated by the discovery of such serious 
 pests as the Gipsy and Brown Tail Moths and certain scale insects on 
 imported trees. 
 
 Many other aspects of the Entomologist's work of controlling and 
 eradicating the countless insect pests affecting man in all his activities 
 and his pursuits might be referred to, but space will not permit. I 
 would, however, mention the important investigations that have been 
 made in recent years by the Entomologist at Ottawa, respecting the 
 ubiquitous house-fly, its menace to health and the means for its sup- 
 pression. 
 
 Chemical Work. 
 
 And lastly I come to speak of the work of the Division of Chemistry. 
 Of its fundamental and varied character you will have judged from the 
 many references made in this address to the aid that chemical research 
 has given towards the solution of the numerous problems in general 
 and specialised farming. The relationship that exists between modern 
 and progressive agriculture and chemistry is a very important and in- 
 timate one, so that we may say with a very large measure of truth that 
 up-to-date farming is putting into practice the teachings of agricultural 
 chemistry. The requirements of crops and animals, the constitution 
 and needs of soils, the most economical means of maintaining and in- 
 creasing soil fertility, the nature and amounts of fertilizing ingredients 
 in manures, tht relative nutritive value of forage crops and cattle foods, 
 the composition of dairy products, the constitution and preparation 
 of fungicides and insecticides, all these and many more form the sub- 
 jects of chemical research and analysis. I shall but indicate some of 
 the more important of these investigations now in progress, omitting 
 mention of those already alluded to in the course of this address. 
 
 Canadian Soils. 
 
 The chemical and physical examination of virgin soils and those 
 from unoccupied areas has always been a matter of particular interest 
 
1913] The Work of the Dominion Experimental Farms 23 
 
 to us. The value of the data so obtained will be apparent, not only 
 for the present but for the future successful farming of these lands. 
 Soil analysis is a tedious affair, but we have during the course of years 
 put on record the data of many types of soils found in the Dominion. 
 Two years ago we were able to issue an important bulletin on the Western 
 prairie soils, which has received wide recognition. This work continues, 
 and our labours in this connection have been extended in recent years 
 to typical soils from Nova Scotia and New Brunswick in the East and 
 British Columbia in the West. We have found the knowledge so gained 
 of much assistance in advising our farmers respecting the economic 
 up-keep of these lands and in the use of manures and fertilisers. 
 
 Conservation of Soil Moisture. 
 
 In districts of sparse rainfall, as in certain parts of North-Western 
 Canada, in which, unless there be provision for irrigation, the so-called 
 "dry-farming" methods must be practised, the question of the absorp- 
 tion and retention of moisture by the soil is all-important. The principles 
 of moisture conservation are fairly well and widely understood, but 
 there yet remain many features in the economical working of the soil 
 to be satisfactorily settled. The value of sub-soiling, the depth and 
 time of ploughing, the frequency, nature and depth of surface cultivation, 
 the value and kind of sub-surface packing are all points requiring in- 
 vestigation on both heavy and light soils. In the autumn of 1910, 
 therefore, an exhaustive series of experiments in soil culture was planned 
 by the Agriculturist and Chemist, to be carried out at a number of the 
 Western Experimental Farms, to learn the effect of various cultural 
 treatments on crop yields and with the hope that these yields might be 
 correlated with the moisture content of the soils. To this end determina- 
 tions of the moisture in samples taken to several depths from the experi- 
 mental plots at regular intervals throughout the season have been made. 
 The results indicate the influence of the several cultural methods under 
 examination on the moisture content of the soil to a depth of 5 feet. 
 Several hundreds of such samples have been examined monthly during 
 the past two seasons. We find that the moisture content of the soil 
 may be profoundly modified by the nature and time of treatment em- 
 ployed, and several facts of considerable practical importance in the 
 working of the land, looking to a greater conservation of moisture, have 
 been brought out. 
 
 The Fertilising Value of Rain and Snow. 
 The nitrogen compounds present in the rain and snow as falling at 
 Ottawa have been determined since 1906. This investigation is being 
 
.■.".>"«*•'*•* -> '"', 
 
 ' 'o . J" s «-» : •>^:f ■ • 5 J, «s .*" ',' - ., ■■ 
 
 34 Transactions of the Canadian Institute. [vol. x 
 
 made in concert with agricultural chemists in many parts of the world 
 with a view of determining the value of rain and snow as suppliers of 
 nitrogenous plant food and of ascertaining the differences that may 
 exist in the atmosphere in various countries in respect to richness in 
 nitrogen compounds. The average per annum for the past five years 
 so supplied is 6.18 lbs. of nitrogen per acre. 
 
 Water Supply of Farm Homesteads. 
 
 Because of the practical importance of the work I cannot omit 
 some mention of the examination of waters from farm wells, creameries 
 and cheese factories. Every year we find an increasing interest in this 
 matter of a pure water supply on the farm, and though not of the nature 
 of a scientific research, I have every reason to believe that our labours 
 in this connection — ^which means the examination of some hundreds of 
 waters annually — have been instrumental in improving the supplies of 
 the farm homesteads throughout the length and breadth of the land. 
 There is no better watered country in the world than Canada, but too 
 often, alas, health has been sacrificed to convenience, and the farm well, 
 because badly located, is a source of disease rather than one of good 
 health. 
 
 In closing, a few words must be said about our directly educational 
 work. In addition to our reports and bulletins, there is a very large 
 and ever-increasing correspondence in all the departments. Farmers 
 have the privilege of writing us without even the cost of postage on 
 their letters, and they have not been slow to avail themselves of the 
 privilege. Questions on all matters relating to general and special 
 branches of farming daily pour in upon us, so that I can truly say we 
 have become a Bureau of Information on agricultural subjects. And 
 we encourage this branch of our work, for we seek, as we have done 
 from the first, to keep in touch with the farmers and make the institution 
 one of real assistance to the man on the land. In this, I believe, we 
 have met with signal success, so that to-day the attitude of the farming 
 people generally towards the Farms is one of confidence and receptive- 
 ness — an attitude that must tend to an ever-widening of the usefulness 
 of the system. 
 
 The Experimental Farms have undoubtedly exerted an influence 
 of great practical value throughout the length and breadth of the land, 
 and I trust I may have been able in this imperfect and fragmentary 
 presentation of their work, not merely to justify their existence but to 
 furnish evidence of the wisdom and forethought of the Government in 
 their establishment. 
 
Gaylord Bros. 
 
 Makers 
 
 Syracuse, N. Y. 
 
 PAT, JAN. 21. IMS 
 
 272690 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY