7-8 EDWARD VII. SESSIONAL PAPER No. 16 A. 1908 



EXPERBIENTAL FARM FOR MANITOBA. 



REPORT OF K WOLVERTON, B.A., SFPr^lTNTENDENT. 



Brando X, M.\x., March 3J, 1907. 

 To Dr. Wm. Saunders, C.M.G., 



Director, Dominion Exi)erimcntal Farms, 

 Ottawa. 



Sir, — I have the honour to submit, herewith, the nineteenth annual report and 

 details of the work done on the Experimental Farm at Brandon. 



The spring and early summer of 190G were very favourable for seeding and growth. 

 Excepting on the bottom lands, the seeding was finished early and in good condition. 

 Some of the heavy low land was too wet for early working. 



There was no late spring frost to injure, and growth was very rapid. The pro- 

 mise of a very heavy crop was bright until the wheat was in the early milk state, when 

 rust appeared pretty generally. Though the rust was almost wholly confined to the 

 leaves of th-^ grain, it certainly reduced the jdeld somewhat. 



When the wheat was maturing we had some days of excessive heat, with dry soxith 

 wind, causing the grain to ripen too rapidly. These two causes reduced the yield of 

 all grains by several bushels per acre. 



Harvest began August 15. The weather was good both for harvesting and thresh- 

 ing and all grains in the province were secured in excellent condition. 



The average nimiber of days maturing was less by nearlj- ten than usual. 



The yields for the whole province fell short of the large crop of 1905 by about 

 15 per centum.. 



The first slight frost occurred on the morning of August 30. when the mercury 

 fell to 29-3 degrees, but little damage was done. There was no frost on the uplands. 

 The second, a killing frost, occurred September 27, when 26-5 degrees were registered. 



EXPERIMENTS WITH SPRING WPIEAT. 



The wheat was well sown and the ground in good condition. Germination was 

 good and even. 



A pecTiliarity of most kinds of wheat, this year, was that from two to four of the 

 lowest spikelets on each head Vv-ere abortive. 



Again the Preston wheat heads the list in yield. Its stiff straw is a decided ad- 

 vantage. This year the bearded wheats have all taken higher places than usual. 

 Possibly they were able to resist the effects of the hot wind better than the bald wheats. 



There was no smut excepting in the smut test plots. The seed was dipped in a 

 formalin solution. 



A number of the less promising varieties have been dropped from this test this 

 year. Out of the thirty varieties under test during the past few years sixteen have 

 been retained for further testing. 



Each plot was one-twentieth of an acre; the seed was sown April 23 and 21, on 

 light clay loam summer fallowed. 



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