52 . EXPERIMENTAL FARMS 



5 GEORGE v., A. 1915 



The New England apple show, Boston, was attended November 14, and also the 

 meetings of the American Pomological Society and Society for the Promotion of 

 Horticultural Science, November 15 to 20. 



The Assistant, Mr. Robinson, also addressed a series of meetings in Kings and 

 Annapolis counties during March and April. 



EXPERIMENTAL STATION FOR NEW BRUNSWICK. 



Fredericton, N.B. 



This Station, the establishment of which in October, 1912, was noted in the 

 report for that year, has been developed during 1913, until now there are good 

 barns built, and good progress has been made in clearing land, fencing and draining. 

 As there was only a comparatively small portion of the area of the station land 

 cleared and most of this cleared land was so weedy as to be unfit for research work, 

 but little experimental work was undertaken this year. 



The weather conditions were somewhat abnormal during the season. Follow- 

 ing a winter milder and with much less snow than the average, April was cool with 

 a very few warm days. May was both wet and cold, and June was also wet. As 

 much of the land was very wet naturally, this weather made it almost impossible 

 to get any crop in the ground early. On the sod ground where it was desired to put 

 grain, no ploughing could be done till the first of June. Rain continued until 

 July 15, and there was but little warmth. From the 15th July till the 1st October 

 sufficient rain fell to keep all crops growing well, but the weather might be classed 

 as dry. Through October, the total precipitation showed 7-4 inches for the month, 

 while 4-8 inches is the average for the last thirty-nine years. The wet weather 

 was so continuous as seriously to interfere with all harvesting operations, and a 

 gTreat deal of late grain throughout the southern part of the province was spoiled, 

 as well as serious damage done to the potato crop. 



There was a good deal of frost through May, and on the 23rd June there was 

 quite a heavy frost on the lower-lying parts of the farm. The first frost again 

 noticed on the farm was on the 16th September, which just touched some tender 

 plants, and there was no more till the 28th September, when most of the potatoes 

 were blackened and the upper part of the corn plants whitened. There was no 

 further frost till the 21st October, and there were only three days on which tlie 

 sun shone in that period. The balance of the month was much brighter, though the 

 precipitation in the ten days was 2-25 inches. There was 4 degrees of frost on the 

 31st, 10 degrees on the 1st November, and 17 degrees frost on the 2nd. This cold 

 spell froze a great many potatoes in the fields and in transit. 



Throughout November the weather was delightfully mild and bright, the rain- 

 fall for that month only totalling 1-14 inches. 



