444 EXPERIMENTAL FARMS 



2 GEORGE V., A. 1912 



The winter of 1909-10, on the whole, was not particularly severe. The coldest 

 weather occurred in December, and again in February. The lowest temperature 

 recorded was — 35-5° on February 22. The most noteworthy point about the winter 

 was the practical absence of snow, combined with the fact that during the periods 

 v ben the temperature was relatively high, more than the usual amount of windy 

 weather prevailed. This dried out still more the fields that were already drier than 

 tliey should be. 



The season opened up very early. The first work done on the land in the spring 

 of 1910 was discing in the afternoon of March 4. For a few. days it was possible to 

 work only in the afternoons, as there was too much frost in the forenoons, but by the 

 11th, the land had softened sufficiently to make it possible to plough. The last frost 

 in the spring was on June 4, when 31-0° was recorded. The first frost in the autumn 

 was on August 23 when 31-5° was recorded, and on the following night the ther- 

 mometer dropped to 30-0°. On account of the drought, the grain ripened very early. 

 The first winter wheat was cut on July 14 and the first spring wheat was ripe July 23. 

 Red Fife was ripe August 1. 



Winter wheat on the Farm came out in the spring very well, much better than 

 after the previous winter. On account of the very dry autumn of 1909, the winter 

 wheat throughout a large portion of the southern part of the province did not come 

 up well, and the major portion of the land so planted had to bo resown with spring 

 wheat. At the present time, more winter wheat is sown on breaking than on summer- 

 fallow, and this is the principal reason why it is so difficult to get the grain up in a 

 dry autumn. Although there may be moisture in the subsoil, the sods themselves have 

 dried out and it is impossible to drill through to the moisture below, which is not the 

 case with summer-fallowed land. 



TWO FARMS. 



Of the 400 acres on the Farm, one-fourth can be irrigated; the balance is devoted 

 to ' dry ' or non-irrigated farming. Two experimental farms are really being operated 

 at Lethbridge. Their object is, not to compare the relative merits of the two systems, 

 but to study their individual problems. To aid in doing this and to prevent confusion, 

 the report is divided into two parts. Part I deals with the results from the non-irri- 

 gated or ' dry ' farm, and Part II with the results from the irrigated farm. In this 

 connection, it might be well to point out that the yields of even the same variety of 

 crop grown on the two farms in any one season are not necessarily comparable, and 

 that an increased yield on the irrigated portion may not be entirely due to irrigation, 

 owing to the fact that the preparation of the land in the two fields may not have been 

 identical. 



Although many of the tests carried out are the same on both the dry and the 

 irrigated farms, still it would be well for the reader, if he wishes to get a compre- 

 hensive grasp of the work, to read both parts. For example, any suggestions offered 

 regarding the preparation of the land, particularly the raw prairie, in Part I, is equally 

 applicable to the preparation of the land that is intended to be irrigated. 



PART I.— THE NON-IRRIGATED OR ' DRY ' FARM. 



EXPERIMENTS WITH WINTER WHEAT. 



As stated above, there was very little winter-killing in any of the plots or fields of 

 winter wheat on the farm, with one notable exception of those plots sown early, i.e., 

 in July and the first part of August. The land on which all the winter wheat was 

 sown was summer-fallowed in 1909. None was sown on breaking. It was ploughed 

 once and during the summer given enough surface cultivation to kill the weeds and 

 volunteer grain. 



