way, but where the seed i8 shrunken and imperfectly dovelojicd the store of nourish- 

 ment is much lessened. After the young plant has begun to grow a period of com- 

 parative rest is needed, during which growth above is scarcely perceptible, until 

 the roots are sufficiently extended to gather food for further development ; the 

 rapidity with which this progress is made depends very much on the plumpness and 

 inherent vigour of the seed. Crops are thus often enfeebled at the start and delayed 

 in ripening by the use of poor seed, or they ripen unevenly and lack that vigour so 

 necessarj^ to a liberal return. 



As an illustration we may take the oat crop. How often it has occurred that 

 farmers have held over for seed such oats as were too poor in quality to sell to advan- 

 tage, thinking that any sort was good enough for this purpose, and how frequently 

 has the yield been poor and the grain of light weight. It is not unusual for good 

 farmers who provide good seed of fertile sorts to have crops of this grain of from 50 

 to 60 bushels per acre, while the average is about 35 bushels; by the exercise of 

 greater care in this respect the average production may be materially increased, 

 and every additional bushel per acre would in Ontario alone add to the returns of 

 the farming community nearly $625,000 a year. Or, taking the improve- 

 ment in another line, it is well known that some farmers by the selection of good 

 plump seed and thorough preparation of the soil grow oats from four to eight pounds 

 heavier per bushel than many of their neighbours. It should not be forgotten that 

 with an equal yield in measured bushels per acre an average increase in the single 

 province of Ontario of one pound per bushel in weight in the entire crop would be 

 a gain to the farmers, basing the estimate on the crop of last year, of $750,000 per 

 annum. An addition of one bushel per acre on the wheat crop of Ontario, including 

 both fall and spring wheat, would in like manner add to the gains of the farmers over 

 $1,300,000 in a single season. These statements respecting wheat and oats will 

 apply with more or less foi-ce to every other crop. 



Good varieties of grain sometimes deteriorate by long and careless cultivation 

 to such an extent as to make them unprofitable, when they are usually replaced by 

 other sorts. Judicious selection and change of seed would no doubt conserve this 

 fertility and add greatly to the length of life of such varieties. New sorts are 

 obtained either by careful selection and cultivation, by the preservation of occasional 

 sports which occur in nature or by artificial crossing. The watchful farmer may do 

 much to improve his own grain, and furnish good seed to his less thoughtful neigh- 

 bours by the first method, and occasionally secure new varieties by the second, but 

 the third requires much more skill and care and is usually practised only by the expert 

 in such matters. On the experimental farms all these methods are in operation, 

 and in a very few years a large number of nevs^ sorts which have been originated in 

 this climate will be available for test in different parts of the Dominion. 



DISTRIBUTION OF SEED GRAIN. 



In view of the importance of placing within the reach of Canadian farmers the 

 best varieties of seed grain obtainable, all the most promising sorts are yearly 

 brought together and tested at the experimental fiirms. The crops of such sorts 

 as are likely to be generally useful are preserved, and under instruction of the 

 Minister of Agriculture distributed the following season to those who apply for them 

 as long as the supply lasts. The character of this free distribution is sometimes 

 misunderstood. Some farmers think they have the right to demand samples of the 

 seed of every sort of grain and crop grown on the farm, and lists are often received 

 covering several pages of a letter enumerating all sorts of grain, vegetable seeds, 

 bulbs, flowers, &c., which they desire to have sent them ; others, again, will ask for 

 seed sufficient for from 10 to 50 acres of land. It is not intended that this branch of 

 the work of the experimental farms should in any way interfere with the business 

 of the seedsmen, but to limit the distribution mainly to such varieties of seed grain 

 as are not easily obtainable in the ordinary channels of commerce. The weight of 

 each sample is limited to three pounds, and the number sent to each farmer is 

 usually two or at most three, so that the supply available may be made to cover 

 every year a large area in the country. 



