612 EXPERIMENTAL FARMS 



7 GEORGE V, A. 1917 



25, when a temperature of 26-6° killed most of the remaining flowers. The weather 

 was fine most of the time in October, .there being only 1-30 inches , of rain, making 

 conditions favourable for a ripening up of the fruit trees. The autumn was rather 

 cool, however, for the ripening of the grape crop, few varieties being thoroughly 

 matured. 



The highest temperature in November was 60-8° on the 1st, and the lowest 14° 

 on the 18th. It became mild during the latter part of the month and winter did not 

 really set. in until December 2, when snow began to fall on the unfrozen ground and 

 the temperature becoming lower, this remained. The average date for eighteen 

 rears when winter has set in, or when frost or snow stopped ploughing, is November 

 25. ♦ 



December was comparatively mild for the season of the year. The lowest tem- 

 perature was 8.2° below zero on the 31st, and it was only twice below zero during the 

 month and above freezing on seven days, the weather being very changeable. There 

 was a heavy snowfall in December. 



January was a moderately cold month with very changeable weather. Although 

 the temperature was below zero on nine days, the lowest was only 16° below. The 

 temperature was above freezing on 12 days, the highest temperature being 42° on the 

 22nd. There was a thick coat of. ice over the snow during the latter part of January. 

 February was only moderately cold and the weather not so changeable as in Janu- 

 ary, the lowest temperature being 19-4° below zero on the "21st, which was the lowest 

 temperature of the winter. It was below zero on thirteen days during the month. The 

 temperature rose above freezing on four days. There were frequent snowfalls in 

 February. 



March was a rather cold month for the time of the year. The temperature was 

 17-2° below zero on the 18th, and fourteen times below during the month. It began 

 to thaw on the 24th, at which time there was a great depth of snow. The precipitation 

 of snow was 130 inches during the winter, one of the heaviest on record. Owing to 

 this great covering there was little frost in the ground. 



FRUIT AND VEGETABLE CROPS. 



The fruit crop on , the whole was a disappointing one to Canadian growers in 

 1015. Spring frosts in some parts of Canada and Apple Scab in others caused a 

 marked reduction in the amount of good apples promised by the abundant bloom 

 when the flowers opened. In Ontario the apple crop was light to medium and the 

 fruit much scabbed in some sections. In Quebec and New Brunswick the crop was 

 light, and on Prince Edward Island, medium. In the Annapolis Valley of Nova 

 Scotia there was a medium crop of fruit of which the proportion of No. 1 fruit was 

 relatively small because of the scab. In British Columbia the crop was a medium 

 one, but a late development of scab in some districts lowered the quality very much. 

 There was a fair crop of apples in Southern Manitoba and Southern Alberta on the 

 trees which are being grown there. The crop of pears was light to medium in those 

 parts of Canada where pears are grown. The plum crop was a good one on the whole. 

 Cherries were a medium to good crop. In some parts of Ontario the yield was reduced 

 by spring frosts. There was a good crop of peaches both in Ontario and British 

 Columbia. The crop of grapes in Ontario was only a medium one, and the fruit did 

 not ripen as well as usual owing to the cool autumn. 



The strawberry crop was reduced by spring frosts in Ontario and Quebec, and it 

 was only a light to medium crop, except in a few favoured sections. In the Maritime 

 Provinces the crop was good, and in British Columbia it was medium to good. The 

 crop of currants was lessened considerably in Ontario by spring frosts, but taking 

 the whole of Canada the crop of these, and raspberries and gooseberries, was good. 

 Small fruits are being much more grown in the prairie provinces than formerly, and 

 there was a good crop this year. 



Ottawa. 



