REPORT OF MR. ANGUS MACKAY. 431 



SESSIONAL PAPER No. 16 



POULTRY. 



On account of tlie difflculty experienced in keeping the different breeds separate, 

 the flock on the farm has been reduced to White Wyandottes and Black Minorcas, 

 the flocks of which consist of : — 



White Wyandottes, 10 birds. 

 Black Minorcas, 72 birds. 



HORSES. 



Since my last report, I have to advise the loss of two horses, one of which died 

 in July and the other was shot in November. The former was one of our brood mai-es 

 and was sick with inflammation for only a few hours. The latter was one of the horses 

 hrought from Ontario when the farm started, and through old age was incapacitated 

 for work. 



With the young animals on hand to take their places, there will be sufficient to do 

 the work without purchase. 



. BEES. / 



I regret being unable to report any success in bee culture. One swarm was put 

 in winter quarters in ISTovember, 1899, in a vaca.nt room in the Superintendent's 

 house, and was returned there in November of the present year. A swarm came off 

 in July but returned to hive almost immediately. This was the only attempt at 

 swarming made during the season. The weight of the hive when taken into the house 

 in November, 1899, was 45 pounds ; this year it was 37 pounds, and no honey whatever 

 had been taken from it during the year. 



SUMMER-FALLOWS. 



In view of the fact that the crops on fallowed land, except where injured by winds, 

 were fairly good this j^ear, notwithstanding the unfavourableness of the season, and 

 that the crop on stubble was almost a complete failure, it is perhaps advisable in this 

 report, to refer to the various methods which have been employed in making fallows 

 on this farm, and to the results obtained therefrom. 



First Method. — Ploughed deep (6 to 8 inches) before last of June ; surface 

 cultivated during the growing season, and just before or immediately after haiwest, 

 ploughed 5 to 6 inches deep. 



, Result. — Too much late growth if season was at all wet ; grain late in ripening, 

 and a large crop of weeds if grain was in any way injured by winds. 



Second Method. — Ploughed shallow (3 inches deep) before last of June ; surface 

 cultivated during growing season^ and ploughed shallow (3 to 4 inches deep) in 

 autumn. 



Result. — Poor crop in a dry year ; medium crop in a wet year. Not sufficiently 

 stirred to enable soil to retain moisture. 



Third Method. — Ploughed shallow (3 inches) before last of June ; surface culti- 

 vated during the growing season, and ploughed deep (7 to 8 inches) in the autumn. 



Result. — Soil too loose and does not retain moisture. Crop light and! weedy in 

 a dry year. (The crop on the farm destroyed by winds and dry weather this year 

 was on land worked in this way. The soil was too loose, dried out too easily and was 

 blown away.) 



