2-3 EDWARD VII. SESSIONAL PAPER No. 16 A. 1903 



ANl!^UAL EEPOET 



ON THE 



EXPERIMENTAL FARMS. 



REPORT OF THE DIRECTOR, WM. SAUNDERS, LL.D., F.R.S.C, F.L.S. 



The fcarmers of the Dominion of Canada have good reason to be satisfied with the 

 results of the harvest of 1902. Seldom have the crops been so generally good. Both 

 from the east and the west have come gratifying reports of the exceptionally good 

 character of the harvest. 



In Ontario the yield of hay has been excellent, and oats — now much the largest of 

 the grain crops — have given the hea\dest returns on record, averaging from 20 to 25 per 

 cent above past years, and the grain is unusally good. Ontario also rejoices in a heavy 

 crop of winter wheat much above the average, a crop almost free this year from insect 

 injury and but little affected by rust. Spring wheat and barley have also given gratify- 

 ing returns. 



In the benefits arising from abundant crops of these important cereals, Quebec, the 

 Maritime Provinces and the Western Provinces and Territories have largely shared ; 

 indeed it is doubtful if the farmers of CaiiP.da have ever experienced a season so gener- 

 ally satisfactory as that of 1902. In addition to the abundant crops of grain and hay 

 the pastures have been excellent, and thus the dairy and stock industries have also 

 prospered. In the Eastern Provinces and in British Columbia the yield of field roots has 

 been satisfactoiy, and potatoes which in some districts have suffered from rot have on 

 the whole yielded well. 



Pease have been much injured in many localities by the curculio or pea weevil, and 

 the crops of Indian corn owing to the cool summer have not matured as well as usual 

 but these are comparatively small items in the products of the country, and present no 

 serious offset to the abundant crops of cereals and grasses. 



It is gratifying to note the rapid improvement going on in all lines of agriculture 

 in Canada. Farmers ai-e paying more attention to the thorough cultivation of the soil, 

 to the proper care and use of barn-yard manure, to the enriching of their land by the 

 ploughing under of clover, also to the selection of the most productive sorts of grain for 

 sowing. The unusually large crop of the past season, while due no doubt in part to 

 favourable weather is also due in part to better conditions brought about by more 

 intellifrent farming. 



