30 



Then, again, rotations have been worked out for various systems 

 of farming, as, for example, with hogs as a leading factor or with sheep 

 as the chief stock kept. Then a number of three year systems 

 have been tested; the results from these as given in the Annual Reports 

 may be taken as authoritative. 



l"p to the spring of 1899, tne rotation experiments conducted 

 at the Brandon and Indian Head Farms were of limited range. That 

 spring a series was commenced at these Farms to determine the 

 value of leguminous crops for turning under every third year as 

 compared with that of the usual bare summer-fallow, for main- 

 taining the fertility of the soil. At Brandon, seventeen, and at 

 Indian Head twenty-two, rotations or combinations have been under 

 test for a number of years. The average and total yield of each 

 variety of grain on each plot has been worked out for the number 

 of years each has been sown, and the revenue found from each plot 

 for a five-year period at Brandon, and an eleven-year period at 

 Indian Head. Wheat was valued at 90 cents, oats at 45 cents and 

 barley at 50 cents per bushel. The results were as follows : 



At the Brandon Farm, the cropping system that gave the highest 

 return was, wheat, 1st and 2nd years; summer fallow 3rd year and 

 wheat 4th and 5th years. The return per acre was $143.62. The 

 next most profitable was wheat, 1st and 4th years, oats 2nd and 

 5th years, and peas ploughed down 3rd year; the total return for 

 grain was $131.26 per acre for the five years. 



At the Indian Head Farm, the work with 22 systems was in 

 operation n years. The greatest return per acre during the period 

 was obtained from a plot that grew wheat for 8 years and oats for 

 three years and amounted to $223.54. The most profitable system 

 in which a leguminous crop was ploughed down was wheat, oats, soya 

 beans ploughed under, wheat, oats, peas ploughed under. It is pointed 

 out by Mr. Angus McKay, the Superintendent, that good results 

 obtained from continuous grain growing are possible only on com- 

 paratively new land and are obtained at the cost of the exhaustion 

 of the fertility of the soil. This is amply demonstrated in the report 

 of these experiments which show y s that w r here the growing of grain 

 has been continuous the crop on the average has been reduced. 

 The only exceptions were found to be the result of unusually favour- 

 able seasons. 



MANURING. 



The experience of Dr. Saunders, extending over a quarter of 

 a century, lead him to the conclusion that on the average farm in 



