LX EOYAL SOCIETY OF CANADA. 



requisite expansion of tho acUvitj' of this survey or some even more comprehensive one which may 

 grow out of it, is still very great. While the methods heretofore employed may be desci-ibed as nest 

 best to those of a trigonometrical survey, it is the experience of other countries that such a survey is 

 essential as a basis for the complete geographical delineation of any great area. The topographical 

 worii proper, embracing hypsometric determinations and leading to the production of contoured maps, 

 can only be considered as begun, while the demand for such ma)is is yearly becoming greater, not 

 only in the Rocky Mountain region, where mining and other operations are extending in advance of 

 the geographer, but also on the great plains and in the foothills, where schemes of irrigation are 

 already being discussed, for which map.'* of this kind^ together with accurate determinations of the 

 volume of water carried by the rivers and streams, are absolutely neccssarj-. 



So far, I have spoken only of the western lands which are under the direct control of the 

 Dominion Government. It must not be forgotten that the actual state of the geographical delinea- 

 tion of the older provinces leaves much to be desired. Many parts of these were surveyed during the 

 early history of the countiy by methods which would now be regarded as e.xtremely jjrimitive, while 

 no such thing as a topographical map, properly so called, exists for any considerable tract in any of 

 these provinces ; although some approximations to such maps have had to be attempted in certain 

 districts by the Geological Survey, for its own purposes. It is possible only to form an adequate idea 

 of the complicated inaccuracies of the older land surveys, when an attempt is made to combine them 

 into coherent maps of large areas. 



It is therefore now most desirabla that some system of survey of a genei al kind, based upon 

 modern and accurate methods, should be extended throughout the Dominion. Exactly what form 

 such a system should take or under what auspices it should be carried out, I do not venture to 

 suggest; but it is clear that something in the nature of an established geodetic survey must be ranked 

 as among the requirements of the immediate future. 



Experimental Farms. 



This branch of the public service was established as the result of the recommendation of a select 

 committee of the House of Commons appointed in 1884 to inquire into the best means of encouraging 

 and developing the agricultural resources of Canada. Mr. G. A. Gigault was chairman of this 

 committee, and in 1886, in consequence of the efforts of Sir John Carling, then minister of agricul- 

 ture, the "Experimental Farm Sj-stem Act" was passed, and the organization of the work began in 

 the same year. 



It is thus only about seven years since the initial steps in this new scientific enterprise of the 

 government were taken, but in that time, thanks to the energy and ability of the director and staff of 

 the farms, great progress has been made, and the way has been opened in many directions for still 

 further usefulness. Besides the central farm at Ottawa, which was first undertaken, branch farms 

 have been established for the Maritime Provinces, Manitoba and the Northwest Territories and 

 British Columbia. 



If any line can be drawn between that which may be described as strictly practical and that 

 which may be called purely scientific work, it will be found to run through the centre of the field of 

 operations of the Experimental Farms. An inspection of the reports already published will show 

 that the work consists largely of submitting actual observations in the field to scientific tests, and in 

 the application in turn of the best results of scientific knowledge to matters of evory-day im])ortance 

 on every farm throughout the land. 



It is, however, from the side of original scientific investigations, r.'ither than from that of applied 

 science, that I am regai'tling the work caii-ied on by the government at the pi-esent moment, and from 

 this point of view, the following may perhaps be selected for mention from among the many lines of 

 work undertaken in this service : — 



