REPORT OF THE DIRECTOR ^ 15 



SESSIONAL PAPER No. 16 



have also been tried, so that the superintendents of the several branch farms might be 

 jn a position to give information regarding all these things to the public when 

 required. Much success has attended these experiments, and the flower beds on the 

 several {firms are most attractive to visitors during most of the summer and during 

 the autumn the seeds of many of the best sorts are saved and distributed to those who 

 take si^ecial interest in the work of home adornment. 



TREE PLANTING. 



Experiments in tree planting were begun at all the Experimental Earms as soon 

 as practicable after their organization. At the Central Earm twenty acres are devoted 

 to forest experiments to determine the relative growth of the more important timber 

 trees under different conditions. Sixty-five acres of the same farm are used as an 

 arboretum, where trees and shrubs from many countries are under test to determine 

 how far they are suitable for growth in eastern Canada. Smaller areas are devoted 

 ti. the same purpose on the branch Experimental Farms. As the need for forest shelter 

 on the open plains in the Northwest country is very great, special attention has been 

 given to the encouraging of tree planting for shelter in Manitoba, Saskatchewan and 

 Alberta. From sixty to seventy thousand trees have been planted on the experi- 

 mental farm at Brandon, and more than one hundred thousand on that at Indian 

 Head, in shelter belts, avenues and hedges, furnishing examples as to the best methods 

 of planting, and at the same time giving information as to the cost of such planta- 

 tions. 



To aid others in starting this useful work, there have been distributed among the 

 settlers during the past eighteen years a vast quantity of young forest trees, with some 

 ten to twelve tons of tree seeds. These have been sent .free to all aplicants. The 

 results of this work are now everywhere apparent. On homesteads in almost every 

 part of the Northwest plains there are plantations of forest trees, which aiford shelter 

 for buildings and stock as well as for the growing of garden vegetables, small fruits 

 and flowers. Thus the dwellings of the settlers are made more attractive, bare and 

 uninviting surroundings being converted into pleasant, sheltered homes. 



DISSEMINATION OF INFORMATION. 



Many thousands of farmers visit the Experimental Earms every year to inspect 

 the work in progress, and those who are not able to do this receive, on application, 

 the reports and bulletins issued from the farms, giving an ax-count of the work done 

 and the results achieved. 



The officers of all the farms attend meetings of farmers in different parts of the 

 country, where opportunities are afl'orded of giving fuller explanations concerning all 

 branches of the work in progress. 



AGRICULTURAL ADVANCEMENT. 



In the meantime the upbuilding of agriculture has progressed rapidly and the 

 occupation of farming has been elevated in the estimation of the community. It l.<^ 

 no longer looked upon as a drudgery in which the dull and slow-going may eke out 

 a laborious existence; on the contrary, it is now recognized as a suitable field for the 

 exercise of the higher intelligence of cultivated minds, and as a calling requiring much 

 skill to conduct successfully. 



While the demands of the home market for the chief food products are immensely 

 greater than they were twenty years ago, the requirements are fully met, and, at the 



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