334 EXPEEIMENT STATION RECOKD. 



FIELD CROPS. 



[Field crops work at the Canadian experiment stations and farms in 1910J, 

 W. Saunders, J. H. Grisdale, W. T, Macoun, C. E. Saunders, F. T. Shutt, 

 H. T. GiJssow, J. A. Clark, R. Robertson, J. Murray, A. Mackay, W. A. Munro, 

 W. H. Fairfield, G. H. Hutton, T. A. Sharpe (Canada Expt. Farms Rpts. 1911, 

 pp. 1-9, 21-2It, 88, 3J,, 37^50, 8-'f-l00, 122-12S, 181, 132, l!,3-J59, 165-168. lll-lSh, 

 262-267, 272-274, 295-306, 317-383, 352-380, 897-1,13, 435-UO, U3-.'f71f, 480-502, 

 505, 506, 511-519, pis. 5, figs. 2).— This continues work already noted (E. S. R., 

 24, p. 432). 



The various farms conducted variety tests of corn, oats, 2- and 6-rowed bar- 

 ley, spring, winter, and durum wheat, emmer, spelt, flax, spring and winter 

 rye, millet, peas, grasses, clovers, mangels, turnips, carrots, sugar beets, pota- 

 toes, field peas, and field beans. Mixpd sowings of peas and various small 

 grains were also tested. Tables state the yields obtained in these tests and the 

 more important cultural and varietal data obtained from some of them. 



Dates of sowing and rii>ening in Alberta of varieties of spring wheat, oats, 

 2- and 6-rowed barley, peas, carrots, turnips, sugar beets, mangels, potatoes, 

 and corn are reported in tables, together with yields and other data on the 

 crops obtained. 



Tables state some of the results of tests of 1,547 samples of wheat, barley, 

 oats, rye, peas, beans, flax, grass, maple, and ash seeds from different Provinces. 

 They were tested to determine the climatic conditions favorable to the produc- 

 tion of seed of high vitality, and to test the influence of the character of the 

 season on vitality. Tests of the decrease of vitality of grains through age 

 indicated that the loss is retarded by low temperature. Winter wheat retained 

 a high germinating power longer than spring varieties, but after the sixth 

 j'ear the specimens in both warm and cold storage had almost entirely lost 

 their germinating power. The decrease was striking in the fourth year, and 

 still more marked in the fifth year. Oat varieties showed fairly good vitality 

 for 5 years, but were quite low in the sixth and seventh years. 



The results of rotation and fertilizer tests are tabulated as in previous years. 

 The corn, oats, clover hay rotation again gave the highest profit, $9.34 per acre. 



Potato spraying and change of seed experiments gave results in harmony with 

 those of previous years. Seed of 11 varieties grown at Indian Head produced 

 yields averaging 368 bu. 30 lbs. per acre, as compared with 96 bu. and 42 lbs. 

 secured from Ottawa-grown seed of tbe same II varieties. 



In the sixth year's work on the effect of soil moisture on the composition of 

 grain it appeared that irrigated barley had a low proteiu content as compared 

 with that from dry farming plats. Wheat was probably less affected in this 

 particular. 



Analyses of turnips, mangels, and sugar beets are reported. Eleven years' 

 analyses of 2 varieties of mangels indicate that their composition is largely con- 

 trolled by heredity, as the relative position of the 2 varieties always remained 

 unchanged. Among 11 varieties of turnips tested at the Prince Edward Island 

 station, 55 per cent of the roots of Magnum Bonum were affected by club root 

 as compai'ed with from 73.5 to 100 per cent in case of the other varieties. 



At the Nova Scotia farm, the addition of 300 lbs. of artificial fertilizers per 

 acre to manure applied to each of a number of turnip varieties gave financial 

 returns ranging from losses of $4.56 to a gain of $1.84 per acre as compared 

 with returns obtained from the plats which received only the manure. Similar 

 tests with mangels showed gains ranging from 44 cts. to $6.60 per acre. 



Wheat grown at the Brandon farm from smutty seed treated with either 

 formalin or bluestone by sprinkling or dipping was entirely free from smut, 



