1-2 EDWARD VII. SESSIONAL PAPER No. 18 A. 1902 



EXPERIMENTAL FARM FOR THE NORTH-WEST TERRITORIES. 



KEPOET OF ANGUS MACKAY, SUPERINTENDENT. 



Experimental Farm, Indian Head, N.W.T, 



November 30, 1901. 

 Dr. Wm. Saunders, 



Director Dominion Experimental Farms, ■ 

 Ottawa, Ont. 



Sir, — I have the honour to submit herewith the fourteenth annual report of tho 

 operations on the Experimental Farm for the North-west Territories, at Indian Head, 

 Assiniboia, during the year 1901. 



The past season has been one of the most successful ever experienced, not only on 

 the Experimental Farm, but throughout the whole country. Bright prospects from 

 beginning to end of the growing season consummated in the most abundant crop ever 

 reaped in any country, and although unsettled weather for a time caused some fears 

 for the safety of the reaped grain, the conditions became more favourable when the 

 real North-west fall opened, and in proportion to the total amount of grain saved in 

 good condition the loss is very slight. 



Last winter was mild with few or no storms. Snow fell in the middle of Novem- 

 ber, and in some districts remained on the ground until April ; while in others it dis- 

 appeared in March. 



On account of the wet condition of the land when it froze up in the fall of 1900, 

 and the frequent rain and snow storms during April, seeding was late in starting, but 

 from the beginning to the end of May, while seeding was in progress, the weather and 

 soil conditions were all that could be desired. 



June opened hot and dry, and some apprehension was felt for the young grain 

 plants, but a rain which was general throughout the Territories on the 12th, followed 

 by warm and frequently heavy showers continuing to the end of July, caused a 

 remarkable growth of cereals in every part of the Territories. In previous years some 

 districts have been more favoured than others in this respect, but this year all have 

 fared alike. 



Harvest commenced from the 15th to the 20th of August, and was completed early 

 in September. No frost was reported till the 17th, by which time all grain, except 

 some late oats, was in stook. 



There were no heavy winds during the season, and no injury was sustained by the 

 grain at any time. 



Shortly after stacking and threshing had commenced, in Assiniboia at least, heavy 

 falls of rain and snow took place and caused delay in securing the grain, as well as 

 more or less loss in badly stacked and stooked grain. The unfavourable weather, with 

 occasional bright days, continued to October 13, when a radical change took place, and 

 from that time to the present not a day has been lost. 



Many very heavy yields of grain are reported from almost every part of the 

 Territories. In Assiniboia, where wheat is the principal crop, yields of 50 to 55 

 bushels per acre have been threshed from fields of 100 acres or over, in the Indian 

 Head, Wide-awake and Abernethy districts ; while many farmers have secured 40 to 45 

 bushels per acre, in some cases on four to six hundred acres. 



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