REPORT OF THE DIRECTOR AND ACTING AGRICULTURIST. 87 



VISIT TO THE WESTERN BRANCH FARMS. 



At the request of the committee of arrangements for the entertaining of the 

 members of the British Association, I left Toronto on August 24th in charge of a party 

 of these distinguished visitors from Europe and accompanied them to the Pacific coast. 

 We were favoured with fine weather during the whole journey and every facility was 

 aflforded the party by the officers of the Canadian Pacific Railway for seeing the more 

 interesting portions of the country by day. In this way an excellent idea was formed 

 regarding the extent and resources of the country and unusual opportunities given for 

 seeing its great natural beauties. The extensive wheat areas between Winnipeg and Regina 

 were all seen by daylight when the harvest was in progress, and opportunity was also 

 afforded for seeing the experimental farms at Brandon and Indian Head and of examining 

 specimens of the more important cereals and other products grown there, also of seeing 

 similar crops at Agassiz and of testing some of the many excellent varieties of fruits 

 produced there. The cities and towns, along the route vied with each other in the hospi- 

 talities shown to the members of this distinguished party, and special entertainments 

 were given at Winnipeg, Vancouver and Victoria. The visitors eic pressed their surprise 

 at the wonderful extent of the country and of its agricultural and mineral resources, and 

 their admiration of the great beauty and diversity of the mouutiin sconery along the 

 route of travel On the return journey, the usual annual inspection of the Experimental 

 Farms was made. 



AGASSIZ, B.C. 



Several days were spent here in inquiring into the progress of the work and arrang- 

 ing the details of future experimental operations. The season had been favourable and 

 the crops of grain and roots were good and well above the average. The fruit crops also 

 had given satisfactory returns. Apples and pears were fruiting well, the plum crop also 

 had been an excellent one, and considerable quantities of fruit had been shipped to the 

 mining districts in British Columbia and to the towns and cities in Manitoba and the 

 North-west Territories. An additional area of land has been cleared at the experimen- 

 tal farm during the year and brought under cultivation, the fruit orchards have also 

 been further extended and many new varieties of fruit added. The orchards which 

 were planted at different heights on the bench lands on the mountain side are all making 

 good progress, and some of the young trees were heavily laden with fruit. The plan- 

 tations of forest and ornamental trees are also doing well, and the flower beds and borders 

 have been brilliant and attractive with bloom throughout the season. Excellent pro- 

 gress has been made in all branches of the work and much evidence was afforded of 

 careful and judicious management. 



INDIAN HEAD, N. W. T. 



The grain crops at this branch farm were very good the past season and the yield 

 of grain has been considerably above the average over a large part of the Indian Head 

 district. Where the land was summer- fallowed many farmers realized thirty bushels 

 or more per acre of first class wheat. At the price which grain now commands such 

 crops are very encouraging and very profitable to the farmer and should bring about 

 rapid settlement of this fertile portion of the great plains. 



In the early part of the season the weather was very dry and the outlook on the 

 experimental farm was unpromising, but timely rains in June produced a luxuriant 

 growth and an abundant harvest of grain. Through lack of rainfall in the autumn the 

 crop of roots was very light. 



The beneficial effects of the shelter provided by forest plantations on the Indian 

 Head experimental farm were clearly shown during the past season. Plots of several 

 varieties of grain sown within the influence of shelter compared with plots of the same 

 sorts sown beyond such influence, gave a difference of from 25 to 50 per cent in the 



