REPORT OF MR. JAMES MURRAY 



283 



SESSIONAL PAPER No. 16 



few days until the stalks are six inches high, and the one or two horse cultivator 

 afterwards. Cultivation should be deep at first, and shallower as the season advances 

 and the ground fills with roots. In this climate the crop should be left standing as long 

 as possible without its being frozen. This crop is undoubtedly handled to the best 

 advantage by being made into silage. When used in this way, it is ready at 

 all seasons without further preparation than that required when it is cut into the silo. 

 There are at present few silos in Manitoba, but the number of inquiries received 

 regarding them would indicate that there is likely to be more in the near future. The 

 stave silo will probably be more generally built than any other kind, as it is cheaper 

 to build and gives good satisfaction. Bulletin No. 35 of the Experimental Farms 

 deals with the construction of such silos, and could be read to advantage by those 

 contemplating building one. 



A new stave silo was built this year on this farm to take the place of the old 

 square silos which had outlived their usefulness. The silo is outside at the north of 

 the barn, the entrance being in the middle of the basement stable. Thirteen feet of 

 concrete extends to the ground level, and a superstructure of twenty- foot staves rests 

 on this foundation, giving a total height of thirty-three feet. The diameter is 

 eighteen feet, so that the capacity is about 175 tons of silage. Our corn was cut into 

 the silo on September 19 and 21, but there was not nearly sufficient to fill it. The 

 variety grown this year for the silo was Northwestern Dent, and although it will be 

 found in the variety test to have produced the lowest yield per acre of all those under 

 test, I consider it a satisfactory variety. The corn was well-cobbed, and at the time 

 of cutting it was in the firm dough stage and an excellent quality of silage was 

 produced. 



Sixteen varieties were grown in the test of varieties this year. They were sown 

 on June 4, on clay loam summerfallowed in 1907, the rows being 40 inches apart. 

 The yield per acre in each case is calculated from the product of two rows each 66 

 feet long. 



Indun C!orx — Test of Varieties. 





1 



2 



3 



4 



5 



6 



7 



8 



9 



10 



11 



12 



13 



14 



15 



16 



Name of Variety. 



Longfellow . 



Salzer's All Gold 



Superior Fodder 



Early Mastodon 



Compton's Early 



Angel of Midnight 



Pride of the North 



Champion White Pearl 



Eureka. . 



White Cap Yellow Dent. . . 



Mammoth Cuban , 



Wood's Northern Dent. . . 



North Dftkota White 



Selected Leaming 



North Western Dent (Da 



kota seed) 



North Western Dent (Mani 



toba seed) 



Date of 

 Sowing. 



June 4 . . . 



- 4... 



M 4 .. 



M 4... 



M 4... 



n 4... 



M 4,.. 



„ 4... 



.. 4... 



,> 4... 



M 4. . 



M 4... 



M 4... 



M 4... 



M 4... 



.. 4... 



Character 



of 

 Growth. 



Rank .... 

 Very rank 



II 



II 

 Rank .... 

 II .... 

 Very rank 



Rank .... 

 Very rank 



Rank 



Fair 



Height. 



In. 



86 

 98 

 97 

 95 

 96 

 78 

 87 

 96 

 102 

 84 

 85 

 86 

 88 

 94 



72 



72 



Leafiness. 



Very leafy 



II 

 Fairly .... 

 Very leafy 

 Fairly . . . 

 Very leafy 



It 



Fairly 



II .... 

 Very leafy 



II 



II 

 Fairly 



Condition 

 when Cut. 



.^ilk 



Not in tassel 



Tassel 



Silk 



Tassei .'.'.' .'.'.' 



Silk ..'.'.'..'.'. 



11 



Not in ta«sel 



Tassel 



Silk 



II 



Late milk. . . 



Weight 

 per Acre 



Grown 

 in Rows. 



Tons. Lbs. 



22 550 



21 966 



19 1,204 



19 808 



18 1,026 



18 630 



17 1,838 



16 1,660 



16 274 



15 1,680 



15 294 



15 96 



14 1,700 



13 334 



10 1,780 



10 1,186 



