DOMINION EXPERIMENTAL FARMS 83 



Trial Plots. 



A good number of these are put in every year, comprising 

 the leading varieties of turnips (Swedes), sugar beets, mangels, 

 carrots, Indian corn, oats, two-row barley, six-row barley, 

 wheat, also some rye, hemp, broom corn, etc. Work along 

 these lines has also been begun with red clover, alfalfa and 

 timothy, with the idea of crossing some of them. The trial 

 plots always seem to interest farmers, who can see for them- 

 selves the sometimes great difference between adjoining varieties 

 as to length of straw, early ripening, etc. In 1911, for instance, 

 the Sixty Day oats were cut while the Thousand Dollar were 

 still green though they had been sown the same day. 



Live Stock. 



Horses. — There are four teams of heavy work horses and 

 a light driver. An experiment is being made to see how cheaply 

 idle horses can be wintered on rough hay, straw and roots, and 

 still be in good shape for the next season's work. The animal 

 chosen is a grade Clydesdale gelding weighing about 1,400 lbs. 

 He receives one pound each of the above-named feeds per day 

 for each hundred of his own weight. 



Cattle. — The herd, during the winter of 1911, consisted of 

 1 bull, 21 cows, 4 heifers, registered Canadians and grades. 

 The average price paid for the females is such that any farmer 

 can give. It is expected that with good care and feeding, 

 along with the use of a pure-bred bull, the heifers raised will 

 be, in a great many cases, larger and better milkers than their 

 dams. Time alone can tell whether our expectations will be 

 realized. 



Swine. — A small but select herd of registered Yorkshires 

 is kept, but no experimental feeding has been undertaken yet 

 (in 1911). 



Poultry. — Two pens of White Wyandottes give good satis- 

 faction as a dual purpose breed. The pullets generally begin 

 to lay at six to seven months. Some experimental work in 

 artificial hatching is carried on. 



Horticulture. 



Tree Fruits. — A commercial orchard of apples, comprising 

 192 trees of varieties which are sure to thrive in Central Quebec, 

 was planted in 1911. Some three hundred more trees will be 

 added in 1912, and perhaps as many in 1913. Besides these, 

 there were 111 in the variety test rows. Some 89 plums, 36 

 cherries, and 13 pears were set in 1911, and probably 200 more 

 of the two first mentioned will be planted. 



21294—61 



