32 - EXPEmM£NTAL FARMS ' " 



6 GEORGE V, A. 1916 



n large nimiber of meetings in various parts of Canada, judging at iiumerous exhibi- 

 tions, and studying live stock conditions and the needs for experimental ajid demon- 

 strational work relating to live stock. 



^o 



DIVISION OF FORAGE PLANTS. 



The work of the Division of Forage Plants has, during the year, been carried on 

 with the following objective points: — 



(1) The ascertaining, by means of variety tests, of tlie comparative yalue, for 

 diil'erent parts of Canada, of many varieties of the different classes of forage plants. 

 This work does not only "in-clude such varieties as are accessible to fanners through 

 the ordinary chamiels of commerce at present, but also those hitherto unknown 

 in Canada, which for some reason or other may prove of value to Canadian agricul- 

 ture. 



(2) The production, by breeding according to wcll-establii-hed scientiiic prin- 

 ciples, of new varieties of forage plants superior to those now available. The aim of 

 this work is not only to raise the quality and yielding capacity of forage crops in 

 general but also to produce varieties especially adapted to the various climatic and 

 soil conditions existing in different parts of the country. 



(3) The gaining of a thorough knowledge of wild grasses and other plants form- 

 ing part of wild hay or of natural pastures. 



(4) The securing of data bearing on the possible production of eeed of forage 

 plants, particularly of field roots, in different parts of the Dominion. 



VARIETY TESTS. 



At the Central Experimental Farm, as well as' at the branch Farms and Stations, 

 a great number of varieties of forage plants, principally of Indian corn, turnips, 

 mangels, carrots and sugar beets, 'have been tested as to their comparative value. 



In all these variety tests the duplicate-plot system, which was introduced for 

 forage plants in 1913, has proven to be of striking value, inasmuch as errors liable 

 to result from variation in the productiveness of the soil in different parts of tlie 

 experimental fields have been eliminated to a very great extent. The duplication of 

 variety tests has, as a matter of fact, proven not only extremely useful, but even absn- 

 lutoly necessary for the gaining of correct data bearing on the comparative value of 

 different varieties. 



In order to secure, furthermore, as accurate a knowledge as possible of the rela- 

 tive value, from the food standpoint, of different varieties, those tested at the 

 Central Experimental Farm have been judged not only by .their yielding capacity but 

 also by their chemical composition. Their real value has been calculated from tonnage 

 and chemical composition taken together. In this way the value of the varieties, 

 being expressed in food units, has -been more accurately ascertained than previously, 

 when the yield itself was being used as the only basis for the valuation. 



BREEDING WORK. 



Leguminous Forage Plants. — The breeding work with clovers and alfalfa, started 

 in 1912, is now well under way. Two main objects, viz., increased hardine-s and 

 increased yielding capacity, furnicli the basis for. this work, which promises to lead 

 to very important results. 



Preeding for hardiness and increased yield in clovers and alfalfa is made po^sibk^ 

 by the fact that the forage plants mentioned do not constitute uniform " varieties." 

 On the contrary, they are . composed of n largo number of di<tinct types differing 

 from each other as to hardip.ess .ts well as to yielding power. These characters, 

 furthermore, have proven to be of a hereditary character, i.e.. thov are transmissible 



