888 EXrERIMEXTAL FARMS 



5 GEORGE v., A. 1915 



served furthermore to strengtlien the opinion, expressed in previous reports, that it 

 will be possible to obtainv within a comparatively short time, new, fairly uniform 

 strains of this very prominent fodder grass. Judging from this year's experience it 

 seems very likely to be possible to produce strains having a yielding capacity at least 

 25 per cent greater than the best timothy now obtainable commercially. 



From the plants sown 1912, seventeen individuals showing desirable characters 

 were selected, isolated and self-fertilized. They all produced a fair quantity of seed. 

 This will be sown next year, and the plants originating therefrom tested for uniformity^ 

 and other characters which may make them worthy of further investigations. 



In order to obtain still more material for breeding work, about twenty-four 

 hundred individuals raised from seed secured chiefly from Western Canada, were 

 transplanted during' the summer. In spite of the d'rought, they made a very satisfar-- 

 tory growth and entered the winter in a splendid condition. 



Orchard Grass. — Breeding work, similar to that with timothy, was also started 

 with Orchard grass, although on a much smaller scale. A total of a little more than 

 two hundred individuals were planted in the field during 1912. These plants, which 

 this year made a surprisingly fine growth, demonstrated' in a still higher degree than 

 did timothy, that the, morphological characters of the dilTerent types existing within 

 Orchard grass are hereditarilj^ transmissible, and that the production of uniform new- 

 strains of high quality will be a comparatively easj^ task. 



From among the two hundred plants, ten of the most outstanding were selected, 

 isolated and self-fertilized. They all produced a fair quantity of excellent seed. 



In addition to the material, soA\ni in 1912, about one hundred individuals were 

 secured this year from seed raised at the Central Experimental Farm and in Siberia. 

 Although the growth of these plants Avas very slight, they all appeared to be healthy 

 and strong. 



Western Rye G7'ass. — Observations to the effect that Western Rye grass also is a 

 very polymorphous plant, from which uniform strains may easily be isolated, were 

 made on specimens shipped from Saskatchewan during the siimmer of 1912, and 

 transplanted at the Central Experimental Farm. .Seed was secured for further study 

 from two of the most promising of these plants. 



Wild Grasses. — With a view of securing, gradually, a fairly complete collection 

 of Canadian wild grasses and sedges, growing at the Central Experimental Farm and 

 illustrating, in a popular way, the properties and relative values of the native fodder 

 and pasture plants, seed was collected from a fairly representative number of species 

 during 1912-. Part of this seed was sown this year in pots, and the plants thusv 

 obtained transplanted in small squares. An additional number of grasses and sedges, 

 collected in the vicinity osf Ottawa chiefly during the spring of 1913, were also trans- 

 planted in the same way. Owing, however, to the severe drought, some of the specie.s 

 succumbed or entered the winter in a rather weak condition. 



HERBARIUM. 



During the past year, several hundred specimens of Canadian grasses and sedges- 

 were added to the collections started in 1912. Among these are quite a few system- 

 atically critical species, for the clear imderstanding of which special research work ia 

 needed. 



The similarity existing between the Canadian grass flora and the gi-ass flora of 

 northern Europe, and furthermore the fact that every year European grass is 

 introduced into Canada, makes a comparative study of the grass flora mentioned an 

 urgent necessity. In other words, for the proper understanding of a great number of 

 Canadian grasses and sedges, European material for comparison is necessary. 



Ott.\wa. 



