198 EXPERIMENTAL FARMS 



1-2 EDWARD VII., A. 1902 



February 19, Perth, Ont.— Perth Public Schools : The Value of Nature Study 

 and the Pleasures of Horticulture. Perth Horticultural Society : The Importance 

 of Nature Study and Science in Horticulture. 



June 6, Vars, Ont. — Public schools and farmers of the district : Nature Study 

 and Science in Farming. 



July and August. — Farmers' meetings in the West. 



September 13, Buffalo, N.Y. — National Bee-keepers' Association and American 

 Pomological Society : Address on Bees as Fertilizers of Flowers. 



October 25, Gypsum, Ohio. — Special meeting of farmers : The San Jose Scale 

 and the way to fight it. 



November 13, London, Ont. — The Entomological Society of Ontario : 1. The 

 Ohio and Ontario Experiments against the San Jose Scale. 2. The Value of Nature 

 Study in Education. 3. Injurious Insects of 1901. 



November 15, Toronto. — Toronto Branch of the Entomological Society of Ontario : 

 The San Jose Scale in Ontario. 



Fodder plants. — The experiments with grasses of all kinds and fodder plants 

 have been continued upon the Central Experimental Farm, and, as in the past, have 

 been a source of much interest to visitors. The summer of 1901 was exceptionally 

 favourable for the growth of all grasses, and the varieties under cultivation succeeded 

 well and made the Experimental Grass Plots a most attractive feature of the 

 farm. In addition to the small plots of one square rod each, larger plots of the more 

 desirable varieties were grown. The Awnless Brome Grass, introduced into Canada 

 by the Experimental Farms in 1887, justly continues to increase in popularity ; it 

 has proved a lucrative crop for seed growers and provides stockmen of the West with 

 a prolific source of grass and hay. Mclvor's Rye-grass, or Western Bye-grass 

 (Agropyrum tenerum, Vasey), a native of the prairie regions, is also a most valuable 

 grass, and is now much cultivated for its rich and heavy crops of hay and seed. 

 Many packets of seed of these two grasses have been distributed to farmers and have 

 given great satisfaction. 



Reclaiming Sand Hills. — As was mentioned in my report for 1898, experiments 

 are being carried on at the request of Dr. T. Christie, M.P., near Lachute, Que., in re- 

 claiming a large tract of shifting sand now nearly 1,000 acres in extent. Among the 

 plants used for this purpose, the White Spruce, Norway Spruce, Balsam Fir, White 

 Pine, willows, Awnless Brome Grass and Quack Grass have been tried. The work 

 as yet has been on too small a scale for marked results. A visit was paid on November 

 5 to the locality with you and Dr. Christie and an examination made of the area 

 invaded by sand. After the past moist summer many of the trees which have been 

 planted were found to have thrived satisfactorily, but the grasses had not done so well. 

 Judging from the success of these trees, it is sincerely to be hoped that experiments 

 on a more extensive scale may be carried out at an early date. The farmers living on 

 the margin of this area of sand have shown much interest in the reclaiming of the 

 land, have planted trees at considerable individual expense, and have taken good care 

 of such trees as they were provided with. 



Collections. — The collections of insects and plants in the Division have been very 

 materially increased during the past year, and great progress has been made in build- 

 ing up a serviceable working collection. Many specimens in all orders of insects 

 have been mounted and placed in the cabinets. Mr. Arthur Gibson, my second assist- 

 ant, has done much of this work of arrangement and preparation of the specimens. 

 Many larva? of Lepidoptera and phytophagous Hymenoptera have been inflated and 

 form a most interesting and valuable addition to the collections in those orders. A 

 great many botanical specimens of Canadian plants have been mounted and deposited 

 in the herbarium where they are now available for reference. This work is now being 



