REPORT OF TEE DIRECTOR 19 



SESSIONAL PAPER No. To 



Bulletin No. 67, entitled Mangels, Sugar Mangels and Sugar Forage Beets was 

 prepared by the Dominion Agriculturist, Mr. J. H. Grisdale. This treats of the feed- 

 ing values of these roots and full information is given as to the proper method of 

 preparing the land, sowing, cultivation, harvesting, housing and feeding them. An 

 appendix to this bulletin has been prepared by the Dominion Chemist, Mr. Frank T. 

 Shutt, treating of the chemical constituents of these roots. 



Bulletin No. 68 of the regular series, entitled Progress in the Breeding of Hardy 

 Apples for the Canadian Northwest, was prepared by myself. This bulletin presents, 

 in a convenient form, the results so far attained in the endeavour to produce varieties 

 of apples which will be sufficiently hardy for the Northwestern provinces. 



Bulletin No. 6 of the second series, entitled ' Western Prairie Soils : Their Nature 

 and Composition,' by the Dominion Chemist, Mr. Frank T. Shutt, deals with some of 

 the chief characteristics of the soils of the western provinces of the Dominion, giving 

 the results of a number of analyses of these soils which the author has made, with 

 some deductions as to the effects of continuous cropping of the prairie soils.. Some 

 notes are made of the chief features of agriculture in the west and in the bulletin is 

 included a report from Dr. Edward J. Russell, Rothampstead Experiment Station, 

 Harpenden, England, on the mechanical characteristics of these soils. A map is also 

 included, showing the prairie and wooded areas and the lines of the first and second 

 steppes of the provinces of Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta. 



Pamphlet No. 7, by the Dominion Chemist, Mr. Frank T. Shutt, on the 'Preserva- 

 tion of Fruits for Exhibition Purposes,' treats of the experiments which have been 

 conducted by the author and myself with various preservatives for this purpose, and 

 the formulae are given of those which have proven the most successful. 



REPORT OF THE EXPERIMENTAL STATION AT PEACE RIVER, 

 ALBERTA, FOR THE YEAR ENDING MARCH 31, 1911. 



Fort Vermilion, 



Peace River, Alberta, October 12, 1910. 



Dr. William Saunders, C.M.G., 



Director, Experimental Farms, 

 Ottawa. 



Sir, — I have the honour to submit the third annual report of the work done at the 

 Experimental Station, Fort Vermilion, during the past season, and also on agricultural 

 renditions in general throughout this district. 



The spring of 1910 opened early, and I was able to start seeding April 26, but seed- 

 ing was not general until May 1. The germination of the grain was slow owing to the 

 hick of moisture due to the small snowfall during the winter. The month of May was 

 very dry and also the early part of June; when the first rains came, in the latter 

 month, growth was very rapid. The first heavy rainfall was on June 18; the wheat 

 was, at the time, not more than six or eight inches high, and the barley and oats not so 

 far advanced, through having been sown later. 



On June 28 we experienced a very heavy frost and the following plants received a 

 severe set-back: Beans, melons, squash, cucumbers, corn and some of the peas; the 

 potato tops were also badly touched in places. 



Good growing weather prevailed throughout the rest of the month, with sufficient 

 moisture. July opened favourably with abundant sunshine and frequent showers. 

 \ T o frost occurred during this mouth. The first of July saw Riga, Marquis, Ladoga 



16— 2 $ 



