OUR AFFILIATED SOCIETIES. 



The attendance was very good, about six 

 hundred taking advantage of the opportunity 

 to witness the progress the mcmhcrs of the 

 Society are making, and their taste in nius- 

 sinL', decorating, etc. 



1 he function was a brilliant one, the great 

 building being l>rilliantly lighted with incan- 

 descent lamps. Chinese lanterns, etc. The 

 throng, young and old, gayly dressed, criti- 

 cising, chatting, inspecting and enjoying the 

 treat, promenaded to the stirring music of the 

 band uutil 10 o'clock, when the exhibition was 



closed. 



.Strangers in town and many of our citixens, 

 who had no idea of the strides the .Society is 

 making, were surprised and delighted with 

 the display. .Many new members should now 

 be added to the N. H. S. 



The Society and its energetic President 

 deserve a public vote of thanks. 



The beaver and letters N. H. S., were the 

 work of Miss Ballantyne and Mr. W. Waller. 

 The crown and initials V.R., were contri- 

 buted by Mrs. U. Wilson. 



TENTH ANNUAL REPORT OF THE 

 CHEMICAL Dn'I.SION OF THE DO- 

 MINION EXPERIMENTAL FARM, 

 1896. 



A copy of this report has just been received 

 and we presume, th^efore, that it is now 

 ready for distribution among the fanners of 

 the Dominion. There is much in it of inter- 

 est and value to every farmer. 



It would appear that the past year has been 

 an exceedingly busy one for chemist (Mr. 

 Frank T. Shutt), for the forty odd pages of 

 his report are crowded with results of analyses, 

 and deduction therefrom, of soils, fertilizers, 

 cattle foods, well waters and a host of other 

 materials more or less closely related to agri- 

 culture. 



Among what appears to us as the more im- 

 portant features of this work, we notice the 

 following : — an exhaustive account of certain 

 typical soils in British Columbia. Their rela- 

 tive fertility is noted and suggestions made 

 for their profitable treatment. 



The economic improvement of muck soils 

 is the subject of a chapter that will be found 

 most useful to all farmers having muck 

 deposits on their farms. Mr. Shutt has been 

 able to demonstrate the value of woodashes 

 (potash) and lime for these soils. The results 

 of pot experiments show a large increase in 

 the yield from such treatment. A well 

 executed cut of the pot experiments illustrates 

 this chapter. 



Many anah'ses of " muds," " mucks " and 

 substances of like character, occurring natur- 

 ally, have been made. It has been shown 

 that many of these deposits are of a highly 

 nitrogenous character, while others are useful 

 as " amendments " rather than as fertilizers. 

 Instructions are given how to make composts 

 with swamp muck, and attention also is called 



to the value of this material as an absorbent 

 in and about the farm buildings. 



Some instructive results obtained by rot- 

 ting manure are given. They show that even 

 under fairly good conditions "there is consider- 

 able loss of fertilizing material. Manure 

 must be kept compact, to exclude the air, and 

 moist (not wet) if the loss during fermenta- 

 tion is to be minimized. 



Some valuable experiments regarding the 

 use of clovers as green manures have been 

 made. The data shows the extent to which 

 the various clovers enrich the soil with nitro- 

 gen. This chapter contains information of 

 the greatest importance to e\ ery farmer who 

 is anxious to obtain an increase of fertility of 

 his land. 



A large number of materials of fertilizing 

 value, such as woodashes, fish meal, etc., have 

 been analyzed and their composition is stated 

 in plain language. 



On the question of cattle foods, the Chemist 

 presents his results on the " Chemistry of the 

 Corn Plant," an important piece of work 

 which clearly indicates the changes in food 

 value that take place during the growth of 

 the crop. Scientific data are given to show 

 that the corn should be allowed to arrive at 

 the "glazing '" condition before it is harvested. 



The results of the Chemist's examination of 

 waters from farm homesteads is anything but 

 encouraging. They show that on many soils 

 polluted water is being used. Mr. Shutt 

 points out the great danger to health of both 

 man and be;ist from the use of a contaminated 

 water supply. 



All thoughtful farnr.ers, we believe, will be 

 iuterested and benefited by a perusal of this 

 report and we should therefore advise them 

 to apply to the Chemist of the Experimental 

 Farms at Ottawa for a copy. 



389 



