REPORT OF MR, W. E. FAIRFIELD 

 SESSIONAL PAPER No. 16 



Peas (irrigated) — Test of Varieties. 



465 



CD 



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5 



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6 



7 



8 



9 



10 



11 



12 



13 



Name of Variety. 



Medium. 



Paragon 



Mackay 



Gregory 



English Grey 



Arthur 



Daniel O'Rourke 



Black-eye Marrowfat 

 White Marrowfat. .. 



Prince 



Chancellor 'Small 



Golden Vine 



Size of 

 Pea. 



Small 

 Large 



Picton 



Prussian Blue. 



Large . . . 

 Medium . 



Date of 

 Ripening. 



Number 

 of Days 

 Matur- 



131 

 128 

 133 

 133 

 115 

 126 

 131 

 126 

 126 

 115 

 115 

 126 

 115 



Average 



Length 



of 

 Straw. 



Inches. 



32 



30 

 34 

 28 

 24 

 28 

 32 

 34 

 27 

 24 

 28 

 26 

 25 



Avei*age 

 Length 

 of Pod. 



Inches. 



3 



3 



2f 



3 



3 



3 

 3J 

 3 

 2| 



n 



3 



Yield 

 of Grain 

 per Acre. 



Lbs. 



3,000 

 2,460 

 1,950 

 1,860 

 1,860 

 1,620 

 2,070 

 1,920 

 2,040 

 1,950 

 1,500 

 2,100 

 1,680 



Yield of Grain 

 per Acre. 



Bush. Lbs. 



50 

 41 

 32 

 31 

 31 

 27 

 34 

 32 

 34 

 32 

 25 

 35 

 28 



INDIAN CORN. 



On account of the drought, none of the corn that was planted germinated, except 

 that put in the garden, which was duly irrigated and came up promptly. 



EXPERIMENTS WITH FIELD ROOTS. 



The stand obtained was very poor in the case of all the roots, on account of the 

 severe drought. The yields reported should not be taken as a criterion of what may 

 be expected from irrigated land in ordinary seasons when the land and crop are given 

 reasonable care. It is very rare indeed in southern Alberta that any difficulty is 

 experienced in getting seeds of any kind to germinate readily when planted during the 

 month of May. The writer has been farming for the last ten years in the Lethbridge 

 district and during that length of time he has never before failed to get a good stand 

 of all seeds sown during the month of May ; even small seeds, such as grass or alfalfa, 

 sown on the surface and harrowed in have always come up well. In fact, during 

 normal years, May and June are our wettest months. 



PREPARATION OF THE LAND. 



The land on which all the roots were planted received, in the spring of 1909, 

 application of fresh manure at the rate of about twelve tons per acre. The manure 

 was disced in at once and the land was ploughed and summer-fallowed. 



EXPERIMENTS WITH TURNIPS. 



Ten varieties of Swede turnips were grown. The seed was sown in drills thirty 

 ii ches apart, and as such a poor stand was obtained, owing to the drought, it was not 

 necessary to do any thinning. The first sowing was made May 12, and the second 

 May 26. From the great irregularity in yields, it can be seen that uneven germina- 

 tion has probably had more to do with the difference in yields than any peculiar quali- 

 ties possessed by the varieties themselves. The roots were pulled October 5, and the 

 yield per acre estimated from the product of two rows — each sixty-six feet long. The 

 crop received four irrigations, July 12, 21, 30 and August 11. 



16—30 



