25G 



BUCKWHEAT. 



There is considerable enquiry among farmers for plants suitable for gi-een 

 manure. To determine the suitability of buckwheat for this purpose, three varieties 

 were sown in adjoining plots of clay loam soil. The plants were weighed green just 

 as they were in full blossom. Silver Hull gave 14 tons 168 lbs. per acre ; Common, 

 12 toils 390 lbs., and Japanese, 9 tons and 816 lbs. The plots were planted with 

 potatoes in 1889. 



FRUIT AND FOREST TREES. 



In submitting my report on the Horticultui-al and Forestry work on the 

 farm, I beg to call attention to the fact that the extremely dry season of 1889, 

 followed by a severe winter, was very trying to young trees newly transplanted, 

 and this should be borne in mind when considering the report of trees planted in 

 1889. 



Trees planted in the plots situated on the bluffs overlooking the valley and 

 protected by a growth of scrub, have again proved the most vigorous. Of the 237 

 fruit trees planted during 1889 in the open prairie plot, 84 or about 36 per cent have 

 died, while of the 158 trees planted in the protected plot, only 22 or about 14 per 

 cent, have died. 



Encouraged by the above results, four additional half-acre plots were cleared of 

 scrub and ploughed, A belt of scrub 4 to 8 feet high has been left around each 

 plot as a wind break. These plots have been planted as follows : — 



No. 1, with apple trees set 20 by 20 feet apart, with raspberries planted in the 

 intervening spaces ; No. 2, with plum and cherry trees 20 by 20 feet apart, and goose- 

 berries between; No. 3, with crab apple trees set 20 feet apart each way, and 

 currant bushes intervening; No. 4, with grape vines planted 10 by 20 feet apart, 

 and raspberi'ies between. 



In addition to the foregoing, a quarter acre plot has been cleared and broken up 

 for strawberries. This we hope to fill with home-grown plants next spring. 



APPLE TREES PLANTED IN 1889. 



The winter oi 1889 was very severe, and the trees in the exposed plot, already 

 weakened by the hot winds of the previous summer suffered badly, while those 

 planted among the scrub on the hillside were comparatively little injured. Of the 

 382 apple trees planted in different parts of the farm in 1889, 261 are still living, 

 although some are considerably weakened and ma}'' succumb during the present 

 winter. It is noticeable that the trees allowed to branch out near the ground have 

 t.ucceeded much better than those trained as tall standards, the latter, having a 

 large amount of bare trunk, suffered severely from suuscald. 



