REPORT OF TEE CHEMIST 57 



SESSIONAL PAPER No. 16 



corrective for softness was found than skim milk, the addition of which to the grain 

 ration also tended to thriftiness and rapid growth. 



The results of this research cannot be condensed into a few paragraphs and, there- 

 fore those interested in the subject are referred to the publication above mentioned. 

 It is gratifying to know that the packers state that the percentage of ^ soft ' hogs has 

 materially decreased since the dissemination of the results of this investigation. 



INVESTIGATIONS KELATIVE TO FEUIT GROWING. 



In this field the work has been exceedingly varied. Thus, we have fully studied 

 the chemistry of the apple, strawberry, and some other fruits with a view of learning 

 their particular needs and the rate at which they may exhaust the soil of plant food. 

 Again, much time has been given to the matter of fungicides and insecticides — their 

 preparation and safe application. Finally, in the management of orchard soils much 

 information of value has resulted from experiments with cover crops as to enrich- 

 ment of the soil and the conservation or dissipation of its moisture. 



WELL WATERS FROM FARM HOMESTEADS, CREAMERIES AND 



CHEESE FACTORIES. 



Samples of this character have been analys2d free of charge (*) with the object 

 of awakening an interest in pure water. The importance, indeed the necessity, of a 

 good supply of wholesome water has been annually urged upon the farming community 

 and the danger, both to the family and the stock, from polluted water repeatedly 

 pointed out. As a result of this campaign there is now-a-days much greater care and 

 attention given to the rural water supply, and ba kdoor and barnyard wells are being 

 abandoned for more distant and purer sources. More than two thousand samples have 

 been analysed since the opening of the laboratories, and though the results may have 

 little scientific value, the work has been of great practical importance and benefit. 



In bringing to a conclusion this hasty view of the work of the Chemical Division 

 during the past nineteen years, the reader is again reminded that this is not a con- 

 densed or concise report of all that has been accomplished, it is rather to be considered 

 as a presentation of certain illustrations which should be representative of the charac- 

 ter and scope of the chemical work. There seems to be no branch of agriculture that 

 cannot be assisted by chemistry and the aim has constantly been to attack those practi- 

 cal problems which appeared most pressing, leaving aside for the time those researches 

 of more purely scientific interest. The field has been found to be wide and varied and 

 though much has been done, much more remains to do. It has been, and is, a work of 

 national importance and we venture to say that the progress of Canadian agriculture 

 will in a large measure be proportionate to the continued aid given by the chemical 

 and other scientific branches of the agricultural reseach institutions of the Domiuicn. 



* Certain directions (supplied on application) must be followed in the collection and ship- 

 ment of the sample and express charges prepaid. 



