283 



EXPERIMENTAL FARMS 



9-10 EDWARD VII., A. 1910 



Among the best varieties for early use are: Everett, Early White Prize, and 

 Bovee; for general crop Dreer's Standard, Uncle Sam, State of Maine, Late Puritan, 

 and American Wonder. 



EXPERIMENTS WITH GRASSES AND CLOVERS. 



The past season has been favourable in this district for securing good crops of hay, 

 and generally throv;gh the province, good average crops were obtained. The spring 

 and early summer weather was warm with suiBcient rain to give the grass a good start, 

 and on this farm excellent crops were secured. Even the old meadows gave a good 

 return. 



A number of one-fifth acre plots of grasses, clovers, and mixtures were seeded in 

 the spring of 1907 and were a good catch the first season. They were sown without a 

 nurse crop, and the mower run over them twice during the summer to cut the weeds, 

 the cuttings being allowed to remain on the ground. All came through the winter 

 with little or no winter-killing, although the snowfall was particularly light, and a 

 splendid stand was the result. j 



The yield of cured hay per acre is given in the following table: — • 

 Grasses and Clovers — Test of Varieties. 



Crop. 



Alfalfa I. H 



Alfalfa 



Common Red Clover 



Alsike 



Timothy 



Western R5'e (^rass 



Western Rye (jiass and Common Red Clover 



Timothy & Alsike 



Timothy and Common Red Clover 



1st Cutting. 



Tons. Lbs. 



COO 

 300 

 1,800 

 l,(iOO 

 1,700 

 1,050 

 875 

 1,900 

 1,850 



2nd Cutting. 



Tons. Lbs. 



700 



800 



1,000 



1,875 



Total Crop. 



Tons. Lbs. 



3 

 3 

 3 



2 



1 



2 

 2 



1 

 1 



1,300 



1,100 



800 



475 



1,700 



1,0.50 



875 



l.iiOO 



1,850 



The alfalfa marked ' I. H.' was grown from seed ripened at Indian Head in 190G. 

 Both lots of alfalfa came through last winter without any winter-killing, so that it 

 is impossible to say whether there is any difference in hardiness. 



Additional plots were sown in the spring of 1908 as follows : Grimm's alfalfa, 

 Turkestan alfalfa, alfalfa and timothy, alfalfa and rye grass, orchard grass, and 

 perennial rye grass. All of these were sown by the same method as was tried here 

 last year with equally good results. By this method the seed is mixed with two or 

 three times its bulk of coarsely chopped wheat or barley, and sown in the same way as 

 grain, only considerably shallower. This system of sowing is calculated to give par- 

 ticularly good results with alfalfa which, in this climate, should always be sown with- 

 out a nurse crop. With the other clovers it should give equally good results. The 

 clover seeds remain uniformly mixed with the cliopped grain, are evenly distributed 

 over the ground and covered to a satisfactory depth, where germination is surer than 

 where the seed is broadcast. About five acres of alfalfa was sown in the way outlined 

 during the past season and an excellent stand resulted. 



