

ANNUAL REPORT 





ON THE ^ 



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EXPERIMENTAL FARMS. ^. 



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RErORT OF THE DIRECTOR. 



During the season of 1891 farmers in almost every part of the Dominion of 

 Canada have been blessed with bountiful crops. With few exceptions favourable 

 weather for seeding, growth and harvesting has prevailed fiom the Atlantic to the 

 Pacific, and the results have been such as to provoke a general spirit of thankful- 

 ness among those engaged in agricultural pursuits. Compared with the average of 

 the past nine years, the statistics of Ontario show an increase for the past year in 

 that province in fall wheat of 5*7 bushels per acre ; in spring wheat, 5*4 bushels ; 

 barley, 3*2 ; oats, 5*7 ; peas, 3*6, and of corn in the ear of 9*8 bushels per acre. In 

 turnips the crop has been increased above the average for the period named by 136 

 bushels per acre; mangels, 76 bushels; carrots, 36 bushels; and potatoes, 28-9 

 bushels, the only items where t.here has been any falling off being in beans and 

 hay. The former is less than the average by 1"3 bushels per acre, and the latter by 

 about four-tenths of a ton per acre. This last has no doubt been due to the very 

 drj'- weather which prevailed generally during the month of June. Farmers have 

 also had favourable results in the Maritime Provinces. In Manitoba and the North- 

 West Territories, notwithstanding the strong winds which prev;uled in the spring 

 and the early frosts in autumn, the returns on the whole have been most bountiful. 

 The stores of fertility laid up by nature with so liberal a hand in the soil of those 

 fertile plains promise food and plenty in the future to in-coming multitudes. In 

 British Columbia also almost every sort of crop is said to have been above the aver- 

 age. The outlook from an agricultural standpoint is most encouraging for Canada, 

 for it will be found that associated with the favourable season there have been 

 improvements in the preparation of the soil, in the selection of the seed and in the 

 general management of the crops, showing that increased intelligence is being 

 brought to bear on farm work. The stores of fertility in the soil are being more 

 carefully husbanded by a judicious succession of crops, and grcatei' pains are taken 

 to replace the elements which repeated cropping has removed. The mental inac- 

 tivity of the past is fast being replaced by a spirit of enquiry which augurs well for 

 the future. 



That much may still be done by the farmer to improve his condition and add 

 to his profits will scarcely admit of a doubt, and while there are some conditions 

 which affect his crops which are beyond his control, the intelligent application of 

 improved methods will enable him to make the very best of every favourable cir- 

 cumstance which may arise. One of the most important means of improvement 

 within his reach is the selection of good seed, and it is worth while to pause to 

 consider how much may be involved in this one point, hitherto so often neglected. 

 Every seed has an individuality of its own impressed on it by nature, which, under 

 favouring conditions, will manifest itself. Each is provided with a gern\ wherein 

 lies this impress of individuality, and this germ is imbedded in a store of such food 

 as is best suited to stimulate the growth of the young plant. When the seed is plump 

 that food supply is bountiful, and the infant plant so nourished makes rapid head- 



