REPORT OF TEE EXPERIMENTALIST 261 



SESSIONAL PAPER No. 16 



Two- row Barley. 



Black Two-row. Improved Thanet. Nepean. 



Duckbill. Italian. Prize Prolific. 



Erfurt White. Jewel. Rigid. 



Gambrinus. Kinver Chevalier. Triple Xaked (beardless). 



Hofbrau. • Large Naked. Victor. » 



Peas. 



Alma. Elephant Blue. New Potter. 



Bright. Fergus. Norwegian Grey. 



Bruce. French Canner. Oddfellow. 



Centennial. Harrison's Glory. Perth. 



Creeper. Maple. Trilby. 



Elder. Multiplier. 



UNIFORM TEST PLOTS OF CEREALS, FIELD ROOTS iLND FODDER CORN. 



The standard and new varieties of cereals whicli are obtainable commercially are 

 annually grown in plots of one-fortieth of an acre, along with the cross-bred sorts pro- 

 duced lit the Farms and a number of other varieties obtained from various sources. 

 The field roots and fodder corn are grown in 'similar plots, and the yield per acre is 

 estimated from the crop obtained from two rows, each 66 feet long. The object of these 

 tests is to determine the relative productiveness, earliness, &c., of the different varieties. 

 Those which for a series of years are found to be distinctly inferior are rejected, and 

 strong efforts are made to keep the list 'vv'ithin as small bounds as possible without 

 omitting anything which may ultimately prove of value. 



The number of these larger plots grown during the past season was as follows : — 

 Spring wheat, 98; macaroni wheat, 14; winter wheat, 20; emmer and spelt, 11; 

 oats, 80; six-row barley, 47; two-row barley, 28; winter barley, 1; pease, 34; spring 

 rye, 1; winter rye, 4; soja beans, 3; horse beans, 2; field beans, 4; flax, 7; turnip?, 

 40; mangels, 32; carrots, 20; sugar beets, 16; Indian corn, 50; mixed grain, 8; 

 making a total of 520 plots. These represent about 410 varieties, duplicate plots be- 

 ing necessary, for special reasons, in some cases. 



Some of the varieties mentioned in the Report of the Experimental Farms for 

 1903, have been discontinued on account of lateness, small yield, or for other defects. 



PREPARATION OF LAND FOR THE UNIFORM TEST PLOTS. 



The system of cultivation adopted for the land devoted to the experimental plots 

 is necessarily somewhat different from that which is generally considered advisable in 

 ordinary farming; but it is worthy of mention that abnormally large quantities of 

 fertilising material are not employed. The land u-sed for the plots consists of three 

 separate fields, and a three-year rotation is practis:3d. Each field receives every third 

 year a dressing of fresh barn-yard manure. This has been applied in the past at the 

 rate of only twelve tons per acre, but this amount has been found insufficient whent- 

 ever the manure has not been of the highest strength. The quantity is therefore being 

 increased to 18 tons per acre. This is at the rate of 6 tons per a-ore for each year. 

 While this is a somewhat larger quantity of barn-yard manure than is used in ordinary 

 farming, it must be remembered that there is no opportunity in this case for the 

 ploughing under of sod or for allowing the land to be used sometimes for pasture, as 

 is the common practice. For these reasons it seems necessary to apply the manure in 

 somewhat greater quantities than usual, though it cannot be fairly claimed that the 

 land is unduly enriched by this method. The manure is spread on the ground and 

 ploughed under in spring. This field is then used for roots, fodder corn and other 

 hoed crops. In the autumn, after the harvest is over, the land is ploughed about seven 

 inches deep, and is left in that condition until the following spring, when it is culti- 

 vated twice with a two-horse cultivator and harrowed twice with a smoothing harrow. 

 Cereals are then sown. After the grain is harvested the land is ploughed about three 

 or four inches deep, to start the shed gi-ain and any weed seeds present, and is again 



