1016 EXPERIMENTAL FARMS 



5 GEORGE v., A. 1915 



TOBACCO STATION AT ST. JACQUES I'ACHIGAN, QUE. 



At this Station, the varieties studied during 1913 were the Comstock, Aurora, 

 and Cuban. 



SEED-BEDS 



The six seed-beds used, each 5 feet by 21 feet, were treated and used as follows : — ■ 



The mould, which had been placed in a heap the previous autumn, was spread out 

 during the iirst days of April and, as soon as thawed out and warmed was placed in the 

 frames, where it was left for further sun action for six days. Only the semi-hotbeds 

 were used; the bottom of the seed-bed is separated from the solid ground by a fairly 

 thin layer of tobacco stems. The Victor brand of fertilizer was used at the rate of 1 

 ounce to each square foot of bed. The sowing of all six beds was done on April 18, 

 with favourable weather. 



The seedlings of (3omstock especially looked well, while the Aurora and 

 Cuban appeared sickly. Weeding was done as usual although the beds were not very 

 weedy since the same mould had been used each year for three years, during which 

 time it had been cleared of a great number of weeds. As at Farnham, the beds were 

 watered lightly and often, with slightly warmed water. As soon as the temperature 

 outside permitted, air was admitted to the seedlings. The thermometers placed in 

 the beds never registered more than 83 degrees, and the minimum temperature, 32^ 

 degrees, was observed on May 18. 



This was very near frost, but the seedlings did not appear to have suffered greatly, 

 except the Aurora. After May 10, the seedlings of Aurora seemed arrested in growth, 

 and many of them commenced to die. An application of hen manure in the propor- 

 tion of one in ten, and of nitrate of soda, was without result, and only a few hundred 

 plants were saved. This necessarily reduced the plantation of Aurora, but the seed- 

 lings of Comstock were plentiful and enabled the planting of four arpents of tobacco, 

 as had been planned. 



PLANTATION. 



Spring conditions were favourable enough to permit of the preparation of the 

 land in good time. Unfortunately, the municipal regulations of. Montreal do not per- 

 mit of the loading manure at the Great Northern station, except in winter. This 

 prevented the usual application of barnyard manure to the land. To make up for this, 

 as far as possible, the amount of chemical fertilizer applied was increased, but with 

 only fair results. 



The planting, finished June 12, comprised : Three arpents of Comstock Spanish, 

 one-quarter arpent of Cuban, and one-sixth arpent of Aurora. 



The work was done entirely by machine, under favourable conditions. Not many 

 plants had to be replaced. The cut worms and wire worms are becoming more and more 

 rare, which would lead to the belief that the application of Paris green and also the 

 three-year rotation followed are very efficacious against insect spread. At St. Jacques, 

 as throughout the Yamaska valley, the month of June was exceptionally cold, and con- 

 sequently unfavourable to the plantations. July was very hot, but very dry as well, 

 so that it may be said in a general way, that ai the beginning of August, the plants 

 were practically a month behind in growth. The heat and rain of August gave a good 

 impulse to growth, but so late that the yields were much below what they should have 

 been. The curing process, favoured by a long autumn of good weather, generally went 



