FARM FIELD WORK. 



It has been observed from the very beginning of the Experimental 

 Farms that methods of cultivation are quite as important from the 

 crop standpoint as the varieties and qualities of seed planted. At 

 the Central Farm and at each of the Branch Farms year after year 

 experiments have been carried on to determine the very best methods 

 of growing the various crops. This work has had reference to crop 

 rotation, manuring, thoroughness of cultivation, thickness of seeding 

 as well as drainage and a number of other factors. 



ROTATION. 



While many factors necessarily unite to produce the most 

 satisfactory results in keeping up the condition of a farm, it has 

 been recognized by the Director and his officers that no single 

 practice can compare in importance with a proper system of rotation 

 of crops. It has been recognized that the rotation or rotations 

 adopted necessarily depend upon the system of farming followed 

 and to some extent upon the character of the soil and the physical 

 peculiarities of the farm as a unit. The work of the various Farms 

 has therefore varied to some extent according to the conditions of 

 agriculture prevailing in the province served by each respective 

 Farm. At the Central Farm rotations and systems of cultivation 

 have been worked out for conditions of mixed farming where live 

 stock raising forms a leading branch. At the Brandon and Indian 

 Head Farms, on the other hand, rotations have been studied chiefly 

 from the standpoint of the grain farmer. At each Farm, the work has 

 been carried on in the light of the food requirements of different 

 crops and to some extent, of the values of the residues from the 

 different crops included. It is understood that certain forage crops 

 such as corn, roots, potatoes and hay require an immense amount of 

 food for stem, leaf and root production that is, an abundance of 

 nitrates as found in the sod of clover and other crops and in well- 

 manured land. Other crops, such as cereals, can get along best with 

 a lighter supply of nitrates which, when present in excess, tend to 

 produce a superabundant growth of straw^ or vine to the delay of 

 ripening. These crops, therefore, need more phosphates, hence do 

 well after some forage crop has taken up the excess of free nitrates 

 found after sod. In the light of these points, it is evident that a 

 good rotation for a system of mixed farming will include (i) meadow 



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