73 



hopes of maintaining tbe fertility of bis land and thus providing for a succession 

 of good crops are mainly based. It is estimated that the manure produced in 

 tbe .-olids and liquids of animals in the United States will probably amount to 

 about l.WO million tons annually, and that in Canada to about 100 million tons. 

 The financial loss involved in the wasteful handling of such a vast amount of 

 valual)le material should impress us all with the importance of this subject. 



Tests for eleven years were also carried on with artificial manures to gain 

 information as to their relative value when used separately or in combination 

 on nearly all the more important farm crops. The results had from artificial 

 fertilizers used alone have been disappointing, considering the large proportion 

 of available plant food they contain. The reason for this lies probably in the 

 fact that these fertilizers contain no humus and that the proiiortion of vegetable 

 matter in the soil has been much reduced by constant cropping and the capacity 

 cf the soil for holding moisture lessened, to the detriment of its crop-producing 

 power. 



The plowing under of clover has been most effective as an additional source 

 of fertility. It increases the store of available plant food by the addition of 

 nitrogen obtained directly from the atmosphere. It also adds to the mineral 

 plant foods available by gathering these from depths not reached by the shallower 

 root systems of other farm cr<)its. It also serves as a catch crop during the 

 autumn months, retaining fertilizing material brought down by the rain, much 

 of which would otherwise be lost. It also supplies the soil with a large addi- 

 tion of humus whereby the land is made more retentive of moistui'e, and results 

 in a deepening and mellowing of the soil. 



In a series of 14 plats of oats, covering a period of five years, where clover 

 was sown and plowed under on alternate plats, the plats with clover gave an 

 average increasetl yield of grain of about 'J bushels. In a similar series of 

 plats of barley where grown after clover there was an average gain of 8 bushels 

 and 31 ix)unds iier acre. In all these plats there was also a considerable 

 increase in the weight of straw produced. Proportionate gains have also been 

 made in trials with Indian corn and potatoes. Many other examples might be 

 given. 



In preparing land for crops different methods are adopted in different parts 

 of the Dominion. In the eastern provinces the fall plowing of land is now 

 generally followed, as crops can be sown earlier by the adoption of this method. 

 On the Northwest plains it has been found of great advantage to summer- 

 fallow a part of the laiad each year. This practice conserves moisture, 

 destroys weeds, and brings the farmer much larger crops. The yield of wheat 

 on land which has been summer-fallowed will average fully one-third more 

 than it will on land which has been prepared by fall or spring plowing. 



That increased crops I'esult from early sowing has been fully demonstrated 

 by the tests carried on at the central farm. Experiments with early,' medium, 

 and late sowings were conducted for ten years on plats of one-tenth acre each, 

 sowing two varieties each year of wheat, barley, oats, and peas. The land 

 was very uniform and all similarly prepared. Six sowings were made in each 

 case, the first at the earliest time practicable, the second at the end of a 

 week, and others at the end of each sul)sequent week until six successive 

 sowings had been made. These plats were all harvested and thrashed sepa- 

 rately and the results recorded The best crops have been had from the second 

 sowings, made just one week after it was possible to get on the land ; beyond 

 this delay has resulted in loss, which has become more serious as the delay 

 lias l)een greater. The average of the ten years' experiments shows that with 

 wheat a delay of one week after the period named has entailed a loss of over 

 30 per cent, two weeks 40 per cent, three weeks nearly 50 per cent, and four 

 weeks 56 per cent of the crop. 



With oats a delay of one week has caused a loss of over 15 per cent, two 

 Aveeks 22 per cent, three weeks 32 per cent, and four weeks 48 per cent. 



In the case of barley a delay of one week has resulted in a loss of 23 per 

 cent, two weeks 27 per cent, three weeks 40 per c-ent, and four weeks 46 per 

 cent. 



With peas a delay of one week has caused a loss of 4 per cent, two weeks 

 12 per cent, three weeks 22 per cent, and four weeks 30 per cent. 



'Ptie results of these experiments have been widely published and farmers 

 in the East now pay general attention to early sowing. 



Another important consideration in connection with successful farming is 

 the selection of the best varieties of seed for sowing, taking into consideration 



