REPORT OF MR. J. A. CLARK 3C7 



SESSIONAL PAPER No. 16 



The springy condition of the soil made the work more difficult and expensive than it 

 would otherwise have been, owing to a very wet season, which set in before the tile 

 was all laid. In these systems, 15,000 feet of tile have been laid and considerably 

 more will yet be required for the higher wet areas in the Blake property. 



GENERAL WORK. 



The land cleared the previous fall near the Superintendent's residence was levelled, 

 graded and seeded down to lawns. A number of rows of trees, together with cross 

 fences and dykes were removed from the farm and the land prepared for cultivation. 

 Three cellars, where former buildings stood, have been filled and the uneven ground 

 adjoining has been graded. A small pond has also been filled. This land will be 

 ready for cultivation in the spring of 1911. The old Pottery pond, which was drained 

 as before mentioned, has been partly filled. This work will be finished as soon as 

 opportunity offers. 



The site for the proposed barn was excavated and a part of the bridge approaches 

 constructed. About 215 tons of manure have been hauled from the city. 



HORSES. 



A team of draft horses, aged four and seven years, was purchased. The draft 

 mare purchased last year has raised a good colt. There are now on the Farm three 

 draft horses, one draft colt eleven months old, and a driver.' All are in a thrifty con- 

 dition. 



ORCHARDS. 



An orchard containing about fifty apple trees, twenty of which are quite old, was 

 on the ' Ravenwood ' property. This had been neglected for some time. A number 

 of the Lroken and decayed trees were removed and the sod was broken from around 

 those remaining. Among the old trees are a few Ribston Pippins which gave about 

 one-half a crop in 1909. The younger part of this orchard is not yet in bearing but 

 appears to be largely Pewaukee trees. 



Stock for new orchards was received from the Central Experimental Farm, 

 Ottawa, and E. D. Smith, Winona. Ontario. The trees arrived in good condition and 

 were planted early in May. The site chosen has a southerly slope, and a shelter belt 

 of forest trees on the north and east. The soil, which is a sandy loam, has good natural 

 drainage; it was very weedy and in a run-out condition. This old sod was ploughed 

 down in the summer of 1910. A dressing of ten tons of barn-yard manure per acre 

 was applied and worked in during the spring of 1910. During the early summer, the 

 ground was continually cultivated, the couch worked out, and the other weeds killed. 

 On July 21, cover crops were sown of buckwheat and of several mixtures of grain. 

 The whole was seeded down to clover at the rate of ten pounds per acre. 



APPLES. 



The new orchard of one hundred and sixty apple trees, in which seventy varieties 

 are represented, was planted on the west side of the field which lies between the St. 

 Avard's road and the Superintendent's residence. These trees have all made a strong, 

 thrifty growth. They were set thirty feet apart each way. 



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