5 GEORGE V. SESSIONAL PAPER No. 18 A- 1915 



REPORT 



FROM THB 



DIVISION OF FIELD HUSBANDRY. 



CENTRAL EXPERIMENTAL FARM, 



Ottawa, March 31, 1914. 



J. H. Grisdale, Esq., B.AgT., 



Director of Experimental Farms, 

 Ottawa. 



Sir. — I have the honour to submit herewith reports of the work conducted by the 

 Division of Field Husbandry at the Central Experimental Farm and the branch 

 Experimental Farms and Stations during the year 1913. 



As pointed out in the report for 1912 the work of this Division is of a very prac- 

 tical nature. Briefly, it may be said to consist of soil and crop management and agri- 

 cultural engineering. Its scope is very well indicated in the following review of the 

 main features dealt with in these reports : — 



Weather conditions. 



Crop yields. 



Rotation of crops. 



Cost of production of field crops. 



Weed eradication. 



Soil cultivation. 



Use of barnyard manure and commercial fertilizers. 



Irrigation and underdrainage. 



Clearing land, fencing, etc. 



In explanation of the comparatively small number of field experiments at the 

 Central Experimental Farm, attention may be drawn again to the present lack of 

 sufficient land suitable for such purposas. The soil, other than that devoted to experi- 

 ments herein reported upon, is so variable in composition that satisfactory field tests are 

 practically impossible. The agricultuTe of the districts we serve is sufficient evidence of 

 the need for conducting soil cultixation tests and more comprehensive rotation investiga- 

 tions. Such lines of work require to be under investigation for a long series of years, and 

 at the present price of land in the vicinity of Ottawa would no doubt involve consider- 

 able expense, but if the Division is to render the best service possible more land of 

 suitable quality must be made available. 



I have the honour to be, sir, 

 Your obedient servant, 



O. C. WHITE, 



Assistant Dominion Field Hitshandman. 



139 



