174 



EXPERIMENTAL FARMS 



7-8 EDWARD VII., A. 1908 



Carrots. — The extremes in dry matter are 12-46 per cent and 9 per cent. In sugar 

 content the variation is much greater, namely, from 1-97 per cent to 6-59 per cent. 

 The percentage of sugar this year is apparently altogether independent of the pro- 

 portion of dry matter present, a peculiarity not general among roots, but which we 

 have noticed in past seasons to a certain degree in examining carrots. 



Analysis of Carrots, C.E.F., Ottawa, Ont., 1906. 



Variety. 



Water. 



Carter's Orange Giant 



Ontario Champion 



Long Yellow Stump Rooted . . . 



White Belgian 



Half Long Chantenay . . . r 



New White Intermediate 



(iiant White Vosges. 



Early Gem 



INLammoth White Intermediate 

 Improved Short White 



p. c. 



87-54 

 88 -48 

 88-76 

 88-97 

 88 99 

 89 -7« 

 90-00 

 90-19 

 90 39 

 91-00 



Dry 



Matter. 



Sugar in 

 Juice. 



Average 

 Weight of 

 One Root. 



Lbs. 



1 

 1 

 1 

 1 

 

 1 

 1 

 1 

 1 

 1 



oz. 



3 

 2 

 3 

 4 



15 

 6 

 4 

 2 

 1 

 2 



Averages for the past two seasons are as follows : — 



Year. 



1905. 

 1906. 



Varieties 

 analysed. 



11 



10 



Dry 



matter. 

 Per cent. 



10-25 



10-59 



Sugar. 

 Per cent. 



2-52 



3-36 



The improvement over the roots of 1905 is again apparent, though the difference 

 in this instance is observable in the sugar content rather than in the increased pro- 

 portion of dry matter. 



INFLUENCE OF INHERITED QUALITIES. 



The influence of inherited qualities as shown in the percentage of dry matter and 

 sugar has been investigated by us for a number of years past by the annual analysis 

 of two varieties — the Gate Post and the Giant Yellow Globe. For six successive seasons 

 the former has been considerably the better variety. Thus, speaking of this matter in 

 my last annual report and reviewing the averages then obtained, I said that : ' The 

 difference between these varieties, as far as can be ascertained by chemical analysis, 

 shows that weight for weight the Gate Post should be worth between one-third and 

 one-fourth more than the Giant Yellow Globe for feeding purposes.' Although as in 

 every previous year of this investigation, the Giant Yellow Globe again falls behind 

 the Gate Post in dry matter and sugar, the differences in 1906 are very slight. The 

 reason for this cannot be stated; the only one that seems to accord with past results 

 is that the seed sown as Giant Yellow Globe is of some other and richer variety — the 

 mistake in naming having occurred before the purchase of the seed by the experi- 

 mental Farm. This is, of course, merely conjecture, but it is difficult to account for 

 the exceptional high results obtained on any other ground. 



