REPORT OF THE AGRICULTURIST. 93 



PART III.— THE FORTY-ACRE LOT. 



In 1891 about forty acres of land were set apart for the purpose of growing fodder 

 crops for cattle in order to illustrate how many cattle might be fed each year upon the 

 products of that area. It was not intended that any method of cultivation should be 

 adopted which would require the employment of hand labour to an extent beyond the 

 reach of the ordinary farmer. The main object was to direct the attention of farmers 

 to the practicability of keeping cattle in larger numbers than had been their custom on 

 the moderate and small-sized farms of Canada. The soil in the part of the farm devoted 

 to this experiment is of a clay and sand loam — varying from a very light sand to a com- 

 pact clay. 



A dressing of barnyard manure was applied to 29 acres of the lot in the spring of 

 1891, at the rate of from 18 to 20 tons per acre. Since that time no manure or fertil- 

 izer has been applied except that obtained from the cattle fed on the crops grown on 

 the lot. Small quantities of additional grain have been fed to these cattle, as the crops 

 have been found insufficient to carry the number of cattle put on the 40-acre lot at 

 the beginning of the different years. 



The crops suffered from the misfortune of unfavourable weather in 1891 and 

 1893. 



By the steps which were taken in 1892-93 to stamp out the disease of tuberculosis 

 from the herd, it became impracticable to continue the feeding of a number of the cows 

 on the crops from this lot. The feeding of cows to the number of 30 altogether, on the 

 crops from the 40-acre lot, was resumed July 7th, 1894. 



The following records of the crops show the progress of the expei'iment : — 



TOTAL YIELD OF CROPS FROM 40-ACRE LOT IN 1891. 



Ripened Crops, 



Lbs of Straw. Lbs. of Grain. 



8 acres, Mixed Cereal Crop 26,454 13,245 



f Golden Vine Pease 905 



J Goose Wheat 1,003 437 



rfacras -j Beardless Barley 3,102 1,373 



IBanner Oats 2,790 2,060 



3 acres, Mixed Cereal crop 10,442 4,345 



14 Totals 43,791 22,365 



Root Crops. 



Lbs. 



1 acre, Carrots 26,785 



1 acre, Mangels and Turnips {^^^; ; ' ; ' ; ' / ' ; ' ' / ' / ; ; ; ; ; Q 'J£ 5 

 1 acre, Turnips 29,584 



3 Total 74,134 



£ acre, Cabbage and Kohl Rabi 15,296 



