REl'ORT OF THE DIRECTOR 69 



SESSIONAL PAPER No. 16 



CEREALS. 



A number of varieties of wheat, oats, and barley, tliat had been under trial 

 for some time, were discarded in 1913, and a number of new varieties were added, 

 •particularly some new hybrid wheats bred by Dr. Chas. Saunders. None of the rew 

 •wheats proved in the one year of trial to be so satisfactory in every way as ^Ia'<]uis. 

 •The Prohide wheat, although much earlier than the Marquis, and of apparently as 

 •e'ood quality, does x\ot yield sufficiently to warrant its adoption in a district similar 

 to this. 



FORAGE CROPS. 



Ten strains of red clover were sown on summer-fallowed land in the spring of 

 1913 and made good growth during the season. They were not cut, so that their 

 town growth served as a winter mulch for the roots. In the spring of 1914 the plants 

 •were almost totally killed. Whether the injury came from winter-killina- or from 

 'being smothered by too much mulch can not be determined. A further attempt 

 \vill be made to find out whether the crop is adaptable to the winter in this district. 



The red clover sown with rye grass and alfalfa for mixed hay in the rotation 

 f^ame through the winter in good condition, and has done so for the three pait 

 Seasons . 



Alfalfa. — Not a great deal of work has been done yet in alfalfa, but enough 

 has been done to demonstrate that it can be grown succesfully in this district. 

 One acre of Grimms' alfalfa, sown in 1910, yielded, in 1913, 3,102 pounds, and 1 

 acre of Turkestan sown at the same time yielded in 1913, 2,470 pounds. In August, 

 .a plot was sown to alfalfa and cut once in the autumn to check weed growth. This 

 .plot came tiirough the winter in excellent condition. 



HORTICULTURE. 



Horticulture at the Station received new impetus in the spring of 1913 by the 

 employment of a qualified gardener. This, together with the fact that the hedges 

 planted for windbreaks in 1910 and 1911 are now large enough to be of some effect, 

 has caused the horticultural feature of the farm work to draw considerably more 

 attention. The bush fruits planted in 1910 came into good bearing in 1913, and 

 yielded for the first time. The strawberry plants had been mulched in the autumn of 

 every year since the farm was started, but in the spring of 1913 it was not removed 

 until nearly the end of May. It is thought that this is the reason why we had a good 

 yield of strawberries in 1913; by the mulch having been left on, the buds were pro- 

 tected from the late spring frosts. 



Some of the apple^ trees planted in 1909 began to yield in 1913. One tree 

 yielded twenty-seven fair-sized apples. 



Floivers. — Over a quarter of a mile of flower border around the lawn laid out 

 in 1912 and partly planted, gave a magnificent disi)lay in 1913. The asters luade 

 a particularly brilliant showing towards autumn, while the tulips were the promin- 

 ent feature in the beginning of the season. The shrubs, particularly the lonicera, 

 syringa and spirea made a good showing. Most of those planted in 1910 flowi/rcd 

 for the first time in 1913. 



Vegetables. — Owing to the increased protection afforded by the greater growth 

 of the windbreaks, the vegetables were more satisfactory than previously. This 

 was the first season tomatoes, s(iuash, cucumbers and corn ripened. 



The cultural experiments in potatoes of 1912 were repeated in 1913. Some of 

 the results were not so marked, but on the whole were quite satisfactory. 



