liEPORT OF THE HORT^ICTLTURIST 127 



SESSIONAL PAPER No. 16 



sufficient to give a good stand under favourable conditions, and 20 lbs. p3r aero haa 

 b( en found sufficient when sown in rows. It was not winter liilled at the Central Ex- 

 perimental Farnij last winter and soon began to make rapid growth in the spring. On 

 June 2 it was cut, with the object of mulching the ground with the crop, the plan be- 

 ing to cut at intervals throughout the summer as with Red clover and use each cut- 

 ting as a mulch. The vetch, however, was killed by the first cutting. It was tlius not 

 found satisfactory as a cxop for mulching. Mammoth Red and Common Red clover 

 sown broadcast at the rate of 10 or 12 pounds per acre about the middle of July proves 

 very satisfactory as cover crops in those sections, such as eastern Ontario, where they 

 malve good growth in the autumn. Ploughed under in tlie spring, Ked clover adds 

 much plant food and humus to the soil, and in orchards where there is usually an 

 abundance of moisture, such as the orchard a't the Central Experimental Farm, it has 

 been found quite satisfactory to cut the clover several times during the summer in- 

 stead of ploughing it under in the spring, leaving the green crop as a mulch on the 

 ground. 



CONSERVATION OF MOISTURE. 



As the conservation of moisture is one of the chief reasons for the cultivation of 

 orchards in the summer, any method which will bring about as good results as culti- 

 vation witliout going to the expense and trouble would be very acceptable. It is claim- 

 ed for the so-called mulch method, by which the grass grown in an orchard in sod is 

 used about the trees to conserve moisture, that the results obtained are quite as sati^ 

 factory as with clean cultivation, but it has been found in certain cases that where 

 such good results have been obtained the soil is naturally moist. ' This year an ex- 

 periment was planned in conjunction with Mr. F. T. Shutt, Chemist, to determine if 

 there were any crops which would conserve, by the mat they formed on the ground, 

 almost or quite as much moisture as they transpired through their leaves. The ex- 

 tremely cool wet season was unfavourable for this work, but the results of the test 

 will be found in Mr. Shutt's report. 



VEGETABLES. 



Experiments with vegetables were continued this year, but the list of varieties 

 was cut down very considerably, as sufficient information has now been obtained of a 

 great many of them to warrant discarding them. Those that are recommended are 

 tested each year for comparison with the newer kinds which are being constantly offered 

 for sale. The season was favourable for all vegetables except those which required 

 much heat, such as melons, peppers, and tomatoes, and the crop of these was much less 

 than iminl. Cutworms were very bad and injured the test of pease so much that this 

 season's results are worthless. Bran and Paris green in the proportion of 1 lb. Paris 

 green to 50 lbs. bran lias been found to be the best remedy for cutworms yet tried, 

 as if applied in time the cutworms will aparently eat it in preference to living plant''.. 



Seleciion of Pease and Beans. — During the past five years an experiment has been 

 in progress in selecting garden pease to develope, if possible, earlier and more produc- 

 tive strains. The results are very encouraging and the effect of selection in regard to 

 increase of yield and earliness is quite marked in some cases. A similar experiment 

 has been carried on with beans for four years, and more recently with tomatoes and 

 melons. There is a wide field for work of this kind, especially in this climate, whore 

 earliness is such an important factor In determining the profits from vegetables. 



Further experiments in growing vegetables in a cheese-cloth tnclosure. — The ex- 

 periment begun and reported on last year of growing vegetables in a cheesecloth in- 



