372 EXPERIMENTAL FARMS. 



STRAWBERRIES. 



Strawberries came through the winter in a more or less damaged condition. One 

 bed had two-thirds of its plants killed outright. None of the plants blossomed freely, 

 and dry weather caused the fruit to be very small, none of which ripened. 



The vines were covered slightly with strawy manure, and the beds had a large 

 bank of snow over them all winter. They were uncovered on May 9. 



NATIVE FRUIT. 



Two varieties of native black currants, 2 of gooseberries, 1 raspberry, 1 cranberry, 

 2 saskatoons and 2 cherries bore fruit the past season. 



The black currants were a heavy crop of very large fruit where the bushes had 

 been thinned out ; gooseberries, very small, but numerous ; raspberries did not ripen ; 

 cranberries, ditto ; saskatoons, a small crop, and cherries few and small. 



cuttings, 1894. 



1,400 cuttings of white, red and black currants were set out last May ; 204 are now 

 alive. The loss was caused, no doubt, by dry weather. 



Conclusions arrived at regarding fruit growing in North-west Territories : — 



1. That no variety of apples has, so far, proved suitable to the North-west Terri- 

 tories. 



2. That Eastern plums or cherries have not succeeded, but that the native Plum 

 of Manitoba, as well as a cherry, a native of the Western States, will fruit and do well 

 here. 



3. That cultivated varieties of small fruits do well in an ordinary year, but are 

 liable to suffer from drouth. 



4. That raspberries and strawberries require protection in the winter months. 



5. That Turner is the best variety of raspberry thus far tested for the North- 

 west Territories. 



6. That Red, White and Black Currants are a safe fruit to plant and require no 

 covering in the winter. 



7. That gooseberries are very uncertain and are liable to be killed back. 



8. That strawberries are the most uncertain of all fruits. If they escape the 

 winters they are easily injured at time of blossoming, by frost, or when fruit is ripening 

 by dry weather. 



9. That all small fruits require good protection from winds in the early part of the 

 growing season, and without this there is not much likelihood of success. 



10. That anything that retards for ten days or two weeks, the blossoming of small 

 fruits will much increase the chances of a good crop, provided there is sufficient moisture 

 to ripen the fruit. 



FOREST TREES. 



The past season, on account of the dry weather, has not been favourable to forest 

 trees. Early in the season, the trees of all sorts came out in leaf and for two months 

 made a rapid growth. Where trees were planted in single rows and the soil around 

 them worked occasionally, they continued to make some progress, but in shelter belts or 

 plantations where the trees are comparatively close together, the dry hot weather early 

 in July stopped nearly all growth and the leaves fell off long before the first frost. 



The growth made, although small, seems to have hardened up, and all trees promise 

 well for the coming year. 



The value of fallow-land for tree planting was demonstrated in a marked degree, 

 the past season. Among the trees planted along each side of a road on the farm, were 

 19 trees on sod and 553 on land that had been fallowed the year previous. At this date 

 every tree planted on sod is dead ; while not one loss has occurred in the 553 on fallowed- 

 land. The same fate overtook trees or shrubs planted on lawns or other places about 

 the farm where sod or grass exists ; while others, planted in ground that had been culti- 

 vated and where frequent cultivation was possible, stood the dry weather all right. 



