12 EXPERIMENTAL FARUS 



9-10 EDWARD VII., A. 1910 



Exoerimf-ntal Farm, Indian Head, Sask.— Experimental Farm Agassiz, B.C.— 



'Wheat 204 Wheat and Rye. . 43 



Oats 226 Oats 223 



Barley 132 Barley 80 



Peas GO Peas 107 



Sundries (flax, rye, spelt) 23 Potatoes 271 



Potatoes 630 Indian corn Gl 



1,275 7H5 



Experimental Farm, Lethbridge, Alberta— Experimental Farm, Lacombe, Alberta- 

 Wheat, oats and barley 104 Wheat 120 



Potatoes 28 Oats 55 



Barley 20 



132 195 



By adding the number of fanners supplied by the branch Farms to those supplied 

 by the Central Farm, we have a total of 38,748. The average number of samples sent 

 out each year for the past eleven years has been over 38,000. 



It is remarkable how rapidly a supply of grain may be built up from a single 

 four or five-pound sample. Take for instance, a sample of oats. The four pounds 

 received will, if well cared for, usually produce from three to four bushels. This, sown 

 on two acres of land, will, at a very moderate estimate, give one hundred bushels, and 

 sometimes much more, but taking the lower figure as the basis for this calculation, the 

 crop at the end of the second year would be sufficient to sow fifty acres, which, at the 

 same moderate computation, would furnish 2,500 bushels available for seed or sals at 

 the end of the third year. 



The critical point of thes-e tests is the threshing of the grain at the end of the 

 first season, and it is here that some farmers fail to get the full advantage of the ex- 

 periment. The product of the one-twentieth acre ijlot is sometimes threshed in a large 

 machine, which it is difficult to thoroughly clean, and in this way the grain becomes 

 mixed with other varieties and with weed seeds and is practically ruined. At the 

 Central Experimental Farm we thresh the produce of many of the small plots of grain 

 by cutting off the heads, placing them in sacks and beating them with a stick, then 

 winnowing until most of the chaff is got rid of, and the grain made clean enough for 

 sowing. 



Where the farmer is to use this seed for his own sowing it is not necessary that 

 the sample be entirely free from chaff. It is, however, most essential if he is to get the 

 full benefit of his experiment, that the grain be quite free from all admixture with 

 other sorts of grain or with weeds. Farmers are expected to harvest the product of their 

 exi^erimental plot separately, and store it away carefully, threshing it by hand either 

 with a flail or in such other manner as thay may prefer The results to be gained 

 will abundantly repay the cost of careful handling of the grain. 



Every season after the regular free distribution of the samples has been provided 

 for, the snrnlus grain grown on the Experimental Farms not required for sowing is 

 sold to farmers in quantities of from 2 to 6 bushels or more each. In this way, a 

 con.siderable number of farmers are supplied every year with seed grain in these 

 larger quiMitities, especially from the branch Farms at Brandon, Manitoba; Indian 

 Head, Saskatchewan; and at Lethbridge, Alberta. 



TESTS OF THE VITALITY OF SEED GRAIN AND OTHER SEEDS. 



The following report includes tests of grain and other seeds grown on the several 

 Experimental Farms, as well as those bought with the object of growing them on the 

 Farm.s. The list also includes tests of the vitality of a number of specimens of grain 

 grown in the several provinces of the Dominion from the samples distributed from 

 the Central Experimental Farm. These tests have been made with the object of 

 ascertaining what climatic conditions are most favourable for producing seed of high 



