REPORT OF TEE DIRECTOR 



81 



SESSIONAL PAPER No. 16 



Banner and the Wide Awake. The crop was good in yield and quality. It was cut 

 from the 13th to the 21st of September; the average length of the straw was three feet 

 six inches, and the average yield thirty- two bushels per acre. A little rust was observed 

 in the various fields, as well as some smut in the fields otn the heavy clay land, and a 

 great deal of smut in a field of about three acres, situated on a moist, sandy loam. 



Two acres of oats were sown on the 24th of June, but did ot ripen. The oats 

 gave a great growth of straw, which remained green until the 28th of September, 

 date- of cutting. Another acre of oats sown on the 26th of June on a piece of new 

 land met the same fate. One acre of buckwheat sown on the 29th of June on new 

 land made a poor start, and was ploughed under on the 2nd of September. 



FODDER CORN AND ROOTS. 



The season was most unfavourable to fodder corn. Three acres of Longfellow 

 were sown on the 23rd and 24th of June. The seed was put in hills, thirty-six inches 

 apart; the corn came up promptly but did not grow to a height of more than five feet, 

 owing to the cold weather; also it suffered from a light frost on tine 16th of September. 

 The corn was cut on the last day of September, and gave some two tons to the acre. 

 Another crop sown on new land gave about three tons. 



A field of turnips, Magnum Bonum variety, a little less than one arpent in area, 

 sown on new land the 3rd of July, with very little manure, came up very slowly and 

 in a very uneven manner, on account of the unevenness and dampness of the field. 

 However, in September and October the roots made a strong growth; the average 

 yield of this field was eight tons to the acre. 



METEOROLOGICAL RETURNS. 



Note.— The recording apparatus was received on the 30th December. 



EXPERIMENTAL STATION FOR CENTRAL QUEBEC. 



Cap Rouge., Que. 



CHARACTER OF SEASON. 



The past season was the most unfavourable which the farmer of the Cap Rouge 

 district has had for a quarter of a century. All crops, except hay, were below the 

 average. 



April was rather cold, and the snow went away slowly. On the 28th, the ice 

 bridge was still solid on the St. Lawrence river, in front of the farm. 



The first thing sown outside was sweet peas, on May 1. This month was one 

 of the worst in years. It rained on fourteen different days, from the 7th to the 31st, 

 and as there was nothing done before the first-mentioned date, seeding was kept back. 



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