16 EXPERIMENTAL FARMS 



4 GEORGE V., A. 1914 



EXPERIMENTS AT FORT VERMILION, PEACE RIVER DISTRICT, 



ALBERTA. 



The spring of 1912 opened very early, the snow starting to thaw during the early 

 part of April. Seeding was begun on April 29, but was not general until May 2. 

 May opened very dry and continued so throughout the month, and, as a result, growth 

 was very slow. June was very dry and hot, with only %oo of an inch of rain during 

 the whole month. This gave tbe crops a permanent set-back which all the rains of 

 July could not remedy. The crops that were not ploughed under were very light. 



July opened showery and cold, a slight frost occurring on the nights of the 9th, 

 14th and 19th, which did considerable damage. The first part of August was showery, 

 and the ripening period was prolonged. Prom the 13th to the 24th, however, the 

 weather was good, and considerable cutting was done on the experimental plots. 

 Prost occurred three times towards the end of the month. Notwithstanding, every- 

 thing on the Experimental Station was a decided success, the wheat, when threshed, 

 showing a yield of from 45 to 69 bushels per acre. Some of the varieties tested were 

 Red Fife, Marquis, Bishop and Preston. Kubanka, a durum wheat, yielded 34 bushels 

 per acre. 



Three varieties of oats were grown, the Banner, Tartar King and Improved 

 Ligowo, yielding 60 bushels, 63 bushels 18 pounds, and 72 bushels 32 pounds, respec- 

 tively. Four varieties of barley ranged in yield from 75 bushels 30 pounds to 55 

 bushels 30 pounds per acre. 



Longfellow Red Nose corn gave a yield of 12 tons 360 pounds of green fodder 

 per acre. I 



Four varieties of turnips gave from 16 tons 1,600 pounds, to 21 tons 1,440 pounds 

 per acre; four varieties of mangels from 10 tons 1,600 pounds to 16 tons 1,600 pounds, 

 four varieties of carrots from 8 tons 20 pounds, to 11 tons 500 pounds; and three 

 varieties of sugar beets, from 8 tons 800 lbs to 18 tons per acre. 



Five varieties of potatoes were tried, the Irish Cobbler giving the lowest yield, 

 96 bushels per acre, and the Carman No. 1 the highest, 288 bushels per acre. 



No alfalfa was under trial this year, all the plots having been ploughed up. 



Brome grass, sainfoin and canary grass gave good crops, the last-named at the 

 rate of 4 tons per acre. Timothy, tall fescue, rye grass and awnless brome grass 

 were poor, owing to drought in spring. 



Vegetables did well, some of the specimens being of record size for the Peace 

 River district; cabbage and cauliflower reached 15 pounds in weight, and other sorts 

 in proportion. Varieties grown successfully in the open comprised asparagus, beans, 

 table beets, carrots, celery, cucumbers, lettuce, parsley, garden peas, parsnips, radish, 

 rhubarb, squash, spinach and table turnips. Tomatoes were cut down by frost on 

 July 14. 



Some twenty-nine varieties of flowers were sown in the open and gave a profusion 

 of bloom until the first fall frost on September 23. Fourteen varieties sown in hot- 

 beds and planted out late in May also did excellently. 



Of seventy-three varieties of ornamental shrubs and trees, the records for the 

 season indicate satisfactory growth and bloom in the great majority of cases. No 

 winter-killing is reported. 



In fruits, the cross-bred apple trees and their seedlings made from fair to very 

 good growth, though none fruited this year. Plum trees did not do well. 



Raspberries and black, red and white currants all fruited. 



METEOROLOGICAL RECORDS. 



Following will be found the meteorological records for Fort Vermilion and also 

 A table comparing these with records taken at Ottawa. 



