REPORT OF MR. Q. H. UUTTON 



483 



SESSIONAL PAPER No. 16 



EXPERIMENTS WITH SPRING WHEAT. 



Twelve varieties of spring wheat were tested, ten of which were sown on 

 March 31, and two on April 21, at the rate of about one and three-quarters bushels per 

 acre. The land was top-dressed with barn-yard manure after the hay was cut in 1908. 

 The hay crop in 1909 was cut and the land immediately packed, ploughed and disced 

 thoroughly. Owing to the slow' growth during the early part of the season, the length 

 of time required to mature is longer than if the wheat had been sown on a later date. 

 Of the varieties under test, Red Fife is probably the best where it can be counted on 

 to mature. Next following is Marquis, combining the quality of the Red Fife with 

 the early maturing characteristics of Huron and Preston. It is possible that Mp-~' 

 will yet prove itself to be superior to Red Fife even for districts where Red Fife can be 

 counted on to mature. For soils such as we have on this Station, Red Fife is net suit- 

 able and Marquis, Huron and Preston should be given the preference. 



Each plot was one-sixtieth of an acre in size, and the soil was a black, clay loam. 

 No rust occurred on any of these plots. 



Spring Wheat — Test of Varieties. 



SPRING WHEAT — DATES OF SOWING. 



The season was favourable for maturing late-sown grain, and the rains coming 

 later than usual helped the late-sown plots to fill out. The Chelsea variety of spring 

 wheat was used in this test, five sowings being made at intervals of one week, the first 

 being March 31. 



Variety. 



Chelsea. 



Date 



Sown. 



Mar. 31.. 



Apr. 7.. 



,i 14.. 



., 21.. 



ii 28.. 



Date of 

 Ripening. 



Sept. 9. 

 5. 

 3. 

 9. 

 9. 



Length 

 of Straw 

 including 



Head. 



In. 



46 



47 

 47 

 49 

 49 



I 



StivngJi 



of Straw 



on a Scale 



of 10 



Points. 



10 

 10 

 10 

 10 

 10 



Length 

 of Head. 



In- 

 4 



Weight 

 of Straw. 



Lbs. 



5,334 

 4,263 

 5,090 

 5,898 

 7,278 



Yield 



per Acre. 



Bus. Lbs. 



53 5 



53 56 



60 3 



55 41 



63 41 



16—31* 



