REPORT OF THE CEEMl^T I57 



SESSIONAL PAPER No. 16 



phosphoric Acid. We may safely conclude, therefore, that as regards these essential 

 elements, this bone does not differ in any marked degree from the bone meal generally 

 sold, the price of which is in the neighbourhood of $25 per ton. 



It has not, however, the same agricultural value of bone meal, for two reasons : 

 its ungrounj condition and the presence of a considerable quantity of fat. The degree 

 of fineness and the proportion of fat in a very large measure control the rapidity with 

 which the bono is decomposed in the soil and its plant food liberated in available form ; 

 the finer the bone and the freer from fat, the more valuable it is from the standpoint 

 of a fertilizer. 



In the event of its being impracticable to have the bones ground or treated for 

 conversion into superphosphate, it is suggested that the bones be broken and crushed, 

 composted with barnyard manure, wood ashes or with alkali, according to one or other 

 of the methods outlined for the reduction of bones on the farm and described in our re- 

 port for 1895. Unbroken and untreated, the bones would be of very little immediate 

 value as a fertilizer — thc-y would probably remain for years in the soil with but little 

 decomposition. 



THE COXTROL OF SOIL MOISTUEE. 



Among the several factors that go towards successful orcharding three may be 

 mentioned which are intimately connected: (1) the control of the soil's moisture at 

 different seasons of the year, (2) the maintenance or increase of the fertility of the 

 soil and its mechanical improvement, and, (3) the furnishing of ' cover ' to protect the 

 roots of the trees during the winter. By cultivation, followed by the growth of a cover 

 crop, all these objects may be attained, but as soils and climatic conditions throughout 

 the country are not the same, it will be evident that the plan — as regards periods to 

 be under cultivation and under crop — best adapted to one locality may require modi- 

 fication before giving equally good results in another. 



In order to test various modifications of this system as regards soil treatment, 

 and to obtain information as to the fertilizing value of certain new crops or new com- 

 bination of crops, experiments were begun a number of years ago on the Experimental 

 Farm, Ottawa. The results of these investigations have appeared in the annual re- 

 ports of the farms. In continuing this work during the past season, we have carried on 

 experiments at Ottawa and at Nappan, N.S., the information sought being solely with 

 regard to the control of the soil's moisture. 



Experiments at the Experimental Farm, Ottawa, Out. 



Two series of experiments were instituted; the first, to ascertain the comparative 

 effect of cultivation and mulching on the soil's moisture; the second, to learn the rela- 

 tive amounts of water withdrawn by certain crops sown broadcast and in drills, re- 

 spectively — in the case of the drill-sown crop the cultivation was carried on between 

 the rows as long as practicable. 



Series I. — Consisted of 5 plots. A, B and (!, adjoining one another; D and E also 

 adjoining one another, but in a different part oi the orchard from the first three named. 

 The soil of one plot (A) was to be kept in ' clean culture ' throughout the season and 

 its moisture content, compared with that of a soil carrying a growing crop of Hairy 

 Vetch, uncut (plot B), of a soil with Hairy Vetch cut and mulched (plots C and D), 

 and of a soil with a crop of mixed clover and Timothy (E) cut and used as mulch. 



Plot A was ploughed May G, cultivated June 10, 25, July 25. 



Plot B had been sown in 1903, with Hairy Vetch, which before the close of the 

 season had practically covered the ground. The vetch survived the winter well and 

 during the early part of the present (1904) season produced an excellent, though some- 

 what patchy, growth. Towards the end of July the crop began to die and it was cut 

 August 5, to be saved for seed. 



