Fig. 2046. Arboretum at Central Experimental Farm, Oitawa. 



CENTRAL EXPERIMENTAL FARM NOTES— XVl. 



'fEW persons, probably, were sorry 

 when winter was over this year. 

 Snow fell on the 14th November 

 and covered the ground until the 

 second week of April, making nearly five 

 months during which the soil was not seen. 

 Furthermore, during that long period there 

 was no thaw of any consequence and at 

 times there were long continued spells of 

 quite cold weather, so that when at last the 

 snow disappeared, spring was welcomed 

 more than it has been for many years at 

 Ottawa. During the latter half of March 

 the snow melted steadily, but slowly, as the 

 weather was not warm, and it was unusually 

 cloudy from March 21st until April loth, 

 there being little sunshine recorded between 



these dates. The snow began to go faster 

 after April ist, as the weather was milder, 

 and there was much rain. On April loth, 

 when the weather again became bright, all 

 the snow was gone except in the drifts. 

 As there was practically no frost in the 

 ground last winter, the soil could be dug at 

 any time, and as soon as the snow was 

 gone outside work was begun, so that in 

 this respect the spring was more than a 

 week earlier than last year, as the frost was 

 not out of the soil enough to use the spade 

 until April 19th in 1900. The first plough- 

 ing was done this year on April 12th. Up 

 to the present time the indications are that 

 most things wintered better than usual. 

 Both large and small fruits are lookinsr well 



