REPORT OF TEE DIRECTOR 



89 



SESSIONAL PAPER No. 16 



Experimental Farm on September 3, with, fall rye and fall wheat and, after many 

 delays from unfavourable weather, was completed on October 9. Rains discoloured 

 the barley after being in stook, and injured the wheat sample considerably. 



With few exceptions, all grain crops gave excellent returns last year, those 

 from the experimental plots exceeding those of any previous year in the history 

 of the Farm. Marquis heads the list of wheats in yield, while Prelude is first in 

 earliness, being from twenty to twenty-five days earlier than Red Fife, which has in 

 the past been the variety chiefly grown in the "West. Fall wheat, which is usually 

 a failure in southern Saskatchewan, gave a good yield, though the sample was only 

 fair. Oats did well on summer-fallow, and an average return was obtained on stubble 

 land. Barley yields "were all satisfactory excepting two varieties, which were only 

 fair. Peas were overtaken by frost before maturing and both yield and quality were 

 injured. 



The hay crop did not equal that of 1911, on account of the dry weather in June 

 checking the gro"wth of the first cutting. Wet weather at the time of cutting made 

 the task of saving the crop more difficult than usual. In the experimental work witb 

 grasses and clovers, the chief point worthy of notice was the small yields of hay 

 obtained where the seed was sown with a nurse crop. In Rotation ' R,' where the 

 grass and clover seed was sown with oats, the yield was only S80 pounds per acre, and 

 in Rotation ' P,' 1,791 pounds. In the cultural tests the yields were much better, but 

 still below those plots where the seed was sown alone. 



Corn, roots and potatoes were especially good the past year. Carrots and sugar 

 beets, although small in yield, as is usually the case here, were of excellent quality. 



SUMMARY OF CROPS EXCLUSIVE OF UNIFORM TEST PLOTS. 



Vegetables, with a few exceptions, were satisfactory. Beans failed to mature 

 before being caught by frost. Corn, the squaw variety excepted, shared the same 

 fate. Melons were a failure, while tomatoes had to be gathered before fully matured. 

 Beets, cabbage, cauliflower, celery, carrots, etc., were, as they always have been, very 

 satisfactory. 



Last year was particularly favourable for trees; although spring frost killed a 

 large part of the blossoms, no injury or set-back to the trees took place, and all made 

 a large growth and matured the wood during the long season. 



Shrubs did exceedingly well; lilacs, caraganas, honeysuckles and other flowering 

 sorts were conspicuous by the large quantity of bloom. 



As usual the flower beds were prolific in bloom and beauty. In annuals, asters, 

 yerbenas, petunias, stocks, and pansies were very conspicuous; and in perennials, 

 dahlias, gladoli, paeonies, and tulips have seldom been surpassed. 



