REPORT OF THE DIRECTOR 



19 



SESSIONAL PAPER No. 16 



liiccoRD of .Sunshine at Fort Vermilion, Peace River District, Alberta, from x\pril 1. 



1913, to March 31, 1914. 



Mouth. 



April , 



May 



June 



July 



August 



September 



October 



November 

 December. 

 January. . . . 

 February. . 

 March 



Number 

 of flays 



with 

 Sunshine. 



Number 



of days 



without 



Sunshine. 



26 

 30 

 29 

 28 

 26 

 19 

 24 

 18 

 17 

 15 

 19 

 27 



4 



1 



1 



3 



5 



11 



7 



12 



14 



16 



9 



4 



Total 



hours 



Sunshine. 



206' 

 242' 



351-9 



2<)4- 



252- 



142- 

 89- 

 670 

 42-7 

 71-7 

 94-7 



188-7 



Average 

 Sunshine 

 per day. 



6-87 

 7-80 

 11-73 

 9-50 

 8-15 

 4-75 

 2-90 

 2-23 

 1-37 

 2-31 

 3-38 

 6-08 



WILLIAM T. ELLIS, 



Observer. 



EXPERIMENTS AT GROUARD, LESSER SLAVE LAKE, ALBERTA. 



The work at this point was again carried on under the supervision of Brother 

 Laurent, of the Indian Mission. 



The growing s-eason of 1913 was wet and the temperatures low. Only three 

 hot days occurred, the highest temperature being 94 degrees. 



In spite of this, grains grew well. Barky was ripe on August 10, Early Red 

 Fife wheat and Banner oats on September 1. 



Threshing was completed on October 9. The yields were as follows: — 



\Mie>at: Early Fife, 28 bus'hels per acre; Preston, 22 bushels; Marquis, 18 

 bushels. The yield of the last two was reduced from their being on heavy clay soil. 



Ligowo oats yielded 45 bus.hels per acre, and Banner 40 bushels. Odessa barley 

 gave 35 bushels per acre, and Man-churian, 34 bushels per acre. 



In horticulture, while the cool, wet season was injurious to some of the plants 

 tested, the results as a whole were satisfactory. 



The fall planting of garden seeds has been practised at Grouard for years, with 

 success. 



Onions, carrots and parsnips were sown in the fall of 1912. The seedlings came 

 up soon after snow disappeared in the spring and kept in good condition, being 

 undamaged by the late spring frosts and heavy winds. 



Soon after the m'id<lle of June, vegetables started in hotrbeds, wGre trans- 

 planted into the open. These comprised cabbage, cauliflower, tomatoes, celery and 

 squash. The yields from aU were satisfactory in quantity and quality. 



Late in April and early in May, the following varieties were sown in the open : 

 Carrots, table beets, beans, peas, turnips (table), lettuce, onions, table corn, radish, 

 rhubarb. These all did well except onions, which were destroyed by the onion worm. 



More than fifty varieties of flowers were grown successfully. 



Currants and strawberries gave good yields. 



16— 2i 



