REPORT OF THE DIRECTOR. 9 



SESSIONAL PAPER No. 16 



EXPERIMENTS WITH OATS GROWN AFTER DIFFERENT CROPS. 



During the past season six plots, one-fortieth acre each, have been used in this 

 test tx) ascertain what effect different crops have on the soil they are sown upon, and 

 how far they influence a subsequent oat crop. The soil in this instance was a sandy 

 loam of good quality. After the crops were taken off last autumn, the land was gang- 

 ploughed shallow, and later in the fall it was ploughed to the depth of about 7 inches. 

 In the spring of 1900 it was harrowed twice with disc-harrow and twice with smooth- 

 ing harrow, and all sown with Sensation oats at the rate of 2 bushels per acre on 

 May 4. They were out on August 14, with the followinf^ results : — 



Previous Crop 

 in 1899. 



Sensation Oats I 



in 1900 Length of 



Yield pel- ! Straw, 

 acre. 



Plot 1 Flax 



Plot 2 Grain 



Plot 3 Horse Beans 

 Plot 4 Soja Beans . 



Plot 5 Corn 



Plot C, Mill.t . . 



Bush. 

 49 

 58 

 69 

 49 

 52 



lbs. 



14 



28 



14 



14 



32 



IS 



Inches. 

 40-45 

 43-48 

 40-50 

 40-45 

 40-45 

 80-40 



Length of 

 Head. 



Inches. 

 8-9^ 



9—10 

 8i-9i 



EXPERTMEXTS WITH BARLEY. 



Fifty-nine varieties of barlej' have been under test in the uniform trial plots for 

 190U. Twenty-four of these have been two-rowed sorts and thirty-five six-rowed. The 

 land chosen for the barley plots was a heavy sandy loam, mixed with clay. The pre- 

 vious crop was clover hay. The land was ploughed late in the autumn to the depth 

 of about 7 inches and left in that condition until the following spring, when it was 

 harrowed twice with the disc-harrow and twice with the smoothing harrow before 

 sowing. The size of the plots was one-fortieth of an acre each, and they were all 

 sown on May 1, the two-rowed at the rate of 2 bushels per acre arui the six-rowed at 

 the rate of If bushels per acre. The seed of all these varieties of barley, both two- 

 rowed and six-rowed, was obtained from selected heads picked carefully by hand, fhe 

 lai^est and plumi>est being chosen. 



Among the varieties tested this year are the following hybrid sorts, all of which 

 have been produced at the experimental farms : — Sixteen two-rowed barleys : Beaver, 

 Bolton, Gordon, Jarvis, Clifford, Harvey, Dunham, Victor, Xepcan, Fulton, Sidney, 

 Logan, Pacer, Leslie, Monck and Rigid, and twenty-one six-rowed sorts, namely : 

 Pioneer, Royal, Argyle, Summit, Albert, Vanguard, Claude, Sui-prise, Success, 

 Nugent, Trooper, Mansfield, Stella, G-arfield, Empire, Phoenix, Yale, Brome, Parkin, 

 Munro and Lytton. The last four named are new hybrids which have been introduced 

 this year. The following is their parentage : — 



No. 18. Parkin Beardless — Royal, six-rowed bearded female ; Success, six-rowed 

 beardless male. 



No. 19. Munro Bearded — Royal, six-rowed bearded female; Success, six-rowed 

 beardless male. 



No. 20. Lytton — Royal, six-rowed female; Beaver, two-rowed male. 



