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



EXPERIMENTAL FARM FOR BRITISH COLUMBIA. 



KEPORT OF THOMAS A. SHARPE, SUPERINTENDENT. 



Agassiz, B.C., March 31, 1909. 



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



Director of Dominion Experimental Farms, 

 Ottawa. 



Sir, — I have the honour to present herewith my report for the year ending March 

 31, 1909. 



The winter of 1907-08 was very mild, with no severe storms, but the spring 

 opened in April with cold winds from the north, northeast and northwest, accompanied 

 by showers of rain which kept the ground cold and wet, and the gro^vth was very slow. 

 Many fields of mangels had to be sown twice, and in some instances, three times. 



The cold wet weather prevented the pollination of fruit blossoms, and as a con- 

 sequence, most varieties of fruits were a light crop. The wet spring favoured the 

 meadows and pastures, and hay was a good crop on most farms. In June, the weather 

 turned dry, and from June 1 until September 30, the precipitation was the lightest 

 for some years, and for the whole year, from April 1, 1908, to March 31, 1909, the 

 precipitation has been the lightest we have had since records hav^e been kept at this 

 station. 



Com did not make much growth until July and was so late that even the earliest 

 of the Flint varieties failed to ripen. 



The dry summer favoured the curing of the clover crop, which is often very diffi- 

 cult to save in ordinary seasons, and what fruit was raised was, owing to the bright 

 warm summer and autumn, very fine in quality and appearance. 



The yield of grain and roots was about the average and of superior quality, and 

 the weather very favourable for harvesting. November was as usual wet, the rainfall 

 amounting to very nearly seven and a half inches, but the lowest temperature recorded 

 was 32 on the 27th. December was mild with more than the average sunshine, and, 

 for the month, a very light rainfall. January began mild, but a cold rainstorm set 

 in and the weather turned colder, the rain freezing on the limbs of the trees, until they 

 were so weighted that many trees were split, had their limbs broken ofi', or the whole 

 tree overturned. The thermometer registered five degrees below zero on the 8th, which 

 was the lowest record here since 1894, and the only time we have had zero since that 

 date. 



Fortunately the ice storm only extended about eight miles east and a like distance 

 west of this place and consequently the damage done to orchards was not extensive. 

 The rain froze on the ground, covering it with a coat of smooth ice several inches 

 thick, and fall wheat and clover suffered. February and March were mild and pleasant, 

 but there is not much growth yet either in meadows or fruit trees. 



CLEARING. 



A very little clearing has been done, and no ditching this year. 



