9-10 EDWARD VII. SESSIONAL PAPER No. 16 A. 1910 



EXPERIMENTAL FARM FOR SOUTHERN 



ALBERTA. 



Lethbridge, Alta., March 31, 1909. 



Dr. Wm. Saunders, C.M.G., 



Director, Dominion Experimental Farms, 

 Ottawa. 



Sir, — I have the honour to submit my second annual report of the work done on 

 the Experimental Farm for Southern Alberta at Lethbridge for the year ending 

 March 31, 1909. This is, however, the first report of the crops grown on the farm, as 

 on account of the land being virgin prairie, it was necessary to devote the first spring 

 and summer to breaking the sod, consequently a crop could not be harvested until 

 the following season. 



The winter of 1907-8 was, in general, normal. Kange stock wintered well. 

 Although land in Southern Alberta is being settled rapidly there is still a great deal 

 of land unfenced, and on these areas thousands of cattle and horses pasture the year 

 round. 



The season of 1908 has been a very satisfactory year for grain in nearly all parts 

 of Southern Alberta. Winter wheat established itself well in the autumn of 1907, 

 and came through the winter in particularly good condition. The heavy rains of 

 June brought the crops to a high state of perfection. Spring wheat, oats and barley, 

 although yielding well, were inferior to the winter wheat. 



The growing season was somewhat longer than usual. The last frost recorded in 

 the spring was on the morning of May 2, when the thermometer registered 32°, and 

 the first one in the autumn was on September 23, when 32° was recorded. Three days 

 later, on the 26th, a killing frost occurred, the mercury going down to 19-2°. Harvest 

 was rather early, as the first winter barley was cut July 23, and the first winter wheat 

 on July 24. 



The results given in the following report will be of particular interest to the 

 many new-comers in the district, because it is the record of the first crop ever raised 

 on this land. In the spring of 1907, the entire farm was virgin prairie, except some 

 ten acres that had been broken the previous autumn. 



Of the 400 acres in the farm, a strip of 100 acres on the extreme east side is 

 irrigable. The remaining 300 acres is non-irrigable. 



TWO FARMS. 



Recognizing that the problems of the non-irrigated, or the ' dry ' farm, are 

 distinct in great measure from those of the ' irrigated ' farm, the work on each has 

 been kept separate. As a matter of fact, two experimental farms are being operated. 

 Their object is, not to compare the relative merits of the two systems, but to study 

 their individual problems. To aid in doing this, and to prevent confusion, the report 

 is divided into two parts. Part 1 deals with the results from the non-irrigated or 

 * dry ' farm, and Part 2 with the results from the irrigated farm. 



