DITISIOy OF CEREALS 1003 



SESSIONAL PAPER No. 16 



NEW BUILDING FOR THE CEREAL DIVISION. 



The building on the Central Experimental Farm, which for the last few yeara 

 has been used by the Cereal Division and the Division of Forage Crops, was unfor- 

 tunately destroyed by fire in the early morning of July 24 last. A considerable 

 amount of valuable seed of standard and new varieties of cereals was burned, but 

 the harvest was just beginning and there was therefore no loss of grain of the cur- 

 rent season, except a few bundles of selected plants of early-ripening, cross-bred 

 barleys. There was, however, a serious loss of oats, emmers, spelts, and beans, owing 

 to the fact that it was impossible to sow any plots of these last spring. A system 

 of filing small samples of seed in another building — partly as a safeguard in case 

 of fire — saved the varieties from being totally lost; but the regular experimental 

 plots cannot be reintroduced for two or three years on account of the lack of seed. 



Immediately after the fire, provision was made for carrying on the work of the 

 Division in temporary quarters; and in a short time work was begun on the plans 

 for a new building. 



This was^designed so that increased space would be available for the work of 

 this Division and for the Division of Agrostology, to which only two rooms in the 

 old building had been assigned. The former structure, erected in 1911, was of a 

 plain design 40 by 70 feet. The new building is 40 by 90 feet, of pleasing and har- 

 monious design, made with a balloon frame and square pitched roof. The exterior, 

 finished with plain lumber and battens, with shingles on the sides of the upper story, 

 presents an attractive appearance, while the interior finishings of matched wood — 

 though inexpensive and suitable for the uses to which the rooms are to be put — are 

 pleasing and satisfactory. 



No claim of special novelty in plan or design is made, but the building is very 



well constructed to enable the work of the Divisions concerned to be carried on to 



good advantage. Efficiency and facility of work were the main objects in view. The 



~ rooms are convenient and sufficiently large, and the building is well provided with 



electric light and power. 



A commodious basement extends the whole length of the structure. The space 

 not required for furnaces, coal, etc., will be used partly for the housing of imple- 

 ments. As the building is situated on the side of a hill, the rear entrance leads 

 directly into the basement, while the entrances at the side and front lead on to the 

 main floor. On this floor a space 40 by 50 feet has been provided for the threshing 

 of plots and for the temporary storage of unthreshed material. In the winter this 

 space is used for the storage of the large quantities of seed grain which are required 

 for distribution purposes. The remainder of this flat consists of four rooms and a 

 hall. One of these rooms will be used by the Division of Agrostology. The others 

 comprise a seed selection and bagging room 16 by 24 feet, a fanning-mill room 16 

 by 16 feet, and a room 16 by 20 feet, which will contain the large, stationary, grain- 

 cleaning machinery, and will be provided with power from the main shaft in the 

 threshing room. 



The second floor contains a writing room, a baking room, a milling room, two 

 rooms for seed and plant inspection and selection, a granary for the storage of the 

 grain from the test plots and breeding plots, and three other rooms used by the 

 Division of Agrostology. These rooms are lighted throughout by large dormer 



windows. 



At the time of writing this report, most of the mills and other machmery lost, 

 have not yet been replaced, but arrangements are being made to put in the new 

 machinery as required. . , 



It is a pleasure to record the fact that the erection of the new building proceeded 

 rapidly, construction starting on the first of December and some of the rooms being 



ready for use early in March. 



Ottawa. 



