368 



EXPERIMENTAL FARMS 



9-10 EDWARD VII., A. 1910 

 PAET I— THE NON-IREIGATED OR ' DRY FARM.' 



P repa/iation of the soil. — The sod was broken 3 or 4 inches deep in May and 

 June of 1907, and in August of the same year most of the land on which the crops 

 mentioned below were raised, was backset. 



Owing to an unavoidable delay in obtaining a gasoline engine for the small 

 threshing machine, it was not possible to begin threshing the uniform test-plots until 

 September 22. As the first grain was cut July 23, and remained out in shock until 

 threshed, it is reasonable to suppose that exposure to weather, &c., appreciably reduced 

 the yields. 



EXPEEIMEis^TS IN WINTER WHEAT. 



On August 31, 1907, ten varieties of winter wheat were sown on sandy loam at 

 the rate of 30 lbs. per acre in plots of one-sixtieth acre each. The Turkey Red No. 

 380 and the Kharkov are practically the same variety. 



Winter Wheat — Test of Varieties (Non-Irrigated). 



Name of Variety. 



Turkey Red (No. 380, from Kansas) 



Kharkov 



Abundance 



Turkey Red (Alberta grown) 



Karlj' Windsor 



Prosperity 



Red Velvet Chaff 



Reliable 



Dawson's Golden Chaff 



Red Chief 





5:0 K 



J' 



1 s 



;5o 



Lbs. 



63^ 

 03 



ou 



(531 



m 

 fill 



61 

 Glf 

 60| 

 60 



Average yield 40 bushels 20 lbs. per acre. 



It may be well to point out that, although Turkey Red (No. 380 from Kansas) 

 yields 15 lbs. per acre more than the Kharkov in this experiment, yet in two tests of 

 field lots where there were three and four acres respectively in the fields, Kharkov 

 outyielded the Turkey Red No. 380 in both cases. 



Field Lot of Winter Wheat. 



A field of 1Z\ acres of backsetting was sown with IGiarkov at the rate of 30 lbs. 

 of seed per acre, during the first few days of September. It was cut the last week in 

 July and yielded at the rate of 54 bush. 11 lbs. per acre. 



AN EXPERIMENT IN BREAKING VS. BREAKING AND BACKSETTING. 



The fact that backsetting prepares the land very much better for the second crop 

 is borne out by the following experiment: — 



The field was broken about 3 inches deep in May, 1907. In August, part of it 

 was backset 2 inches deeper than the breaking, and the whole piece was sown with 

 three varieties of winter wheat. The sowing was done at right angles to the ploughing, 

 so that each variety was sown partly on land merely broken and partly on backsetting. 

 The three varieties resemble each other very closely. The last variety is the ordinary 



