74 - EXPEIflMEyTM FARMS 



6 GEORGE V, A. 1916 



Alberta the precipitation was so light that absolutely no grain crops were obtained 

 except on well summer-fallowed fields, and the yields in these cases were, of course, 

 very light. Although it is most unfortunate that the district has had to experience 

 such a lamentable disaster as a practical crop failure, still, one advantage is gained 

 which is that the farmers are brought face to face with the fact that summer-fallowing 

 must be practised on a very much greater scale than has been the case in the past, if 

 similar failures in the future are to be avoided. 



In regard to the amount of moisture carried in the soil from 1913 it might be 

 said that the precipitation during the last four months of that year was light, amount- 

 ing in all to only 2^ inches. During this period, heavy drying winds were prevalent, 

 with little or no snow on the ground, so that the soil moisture was severely drawn 

 upon. To counteract this in a measure, however, 3-63 inches of precipitation was 

 received during the first three months of this year, i.e., January, February, and March, 

 so that the soil was reasonably moist and in excellent condition Avhen work on the 

 land was started. 



The first discing, harrowing, or seeding on the Station occurred March IT. The 

 ground froze up toward the latter part of March but opened again shortly, and seeding 

 was begun April 4. Unfortunately, the rainfall during April, May, and until the latter 

 part of June was very much less than usual. For this entire period no soaking rain 

 was experienced. What did come was in the form of light showers that were not 

 sufficient to wet through the dry layer of 2 or 3 inches at the surface and connect with 

 the moisture lower down. The fact that the total precipitation for April and May 

 was only 0-83 of an inch fully illustrates how serious conditions were and how diffi- 

 cult it was to obtain a stand from seeds when sown. A wet spell during tlie last ten 

 days of June revived things generally, but the dry, hot July was too severe a strain 

 on plant life. Corn, late-sown roots, an-d potatoes, which were able to profit by the 

 August rains, gave reasonable returns, although they, of course, did much better on 

 summer-fallow. The last frost in the spring occurred on May 12, when a temperature 

 of 29-8° F. was recorded. The first frost in the fall was on September 15, when the 

 temperature dropped to 31-0° F. 



CROP YIELDS. 



Non-irrigated. — All crops except those sown on summer-fallow and corn land were 

 a practical failure. Field lots of spring wheat sown on summer-fallow averaged a little 

 over 15 bushels per acre, and "winter wheat, 14 bushels. The yields of oats and barley 

 were in proportion. Peas and oats sown as a mixture on summer fallow for green feed 

 gave a return of 1 ton and 500 pounds per acre of field-cured hay. The yield of wheat 

 after corn in one of the rotations was greater than wheat on summer-fallowed land. 

 This is rather remarkable considering the extremely dry reason, and indicates the 

 .possibilities of the dry-land farmer producing a good supply of winter fodder on land 

 that otherwise would be in fallow and returning nothing. Hay, including alfalfa, clover 

 and grasses, failed to make sufficient growth to be worth cutting, except alfalfa in rows, 

 which gave light returns. 



Irrigated. — The yields of grain were fully up to the normal. All kinds of hay gave 

 returns slightly in excess of those obtained in 1913. 



EXPERIMENTS I*^ ROTATION OK CROPS. 



Non-irrigated. — The necessity of having a summer-fallow introduced every second 

 or third year in the crop rotations was fully cmpliasized. There are now seven rota- 

 tions laid out on the dry part of the farm. In addition to these, there is really an 

 eighth one comprising an experiment to test corn planted in hills 3 feet each way. and 

 potatoes similarly planted as a substitute for summer-fallow. The variety of corn used 



