DOMINION EXPERIMENTAL FARMS 103 



work was started in 1888, some twenty-three thousand trees 

 and plants were set out. These were mostly forest and orna- 

 mental trees, but included over three thousand specimens of fruit- 

 bearing sorts. The varieties first planted were, however, unsuited 

 to the West; many died during the first winter, others suc- 

 cumbed to the effects of the hot, drying winds of the summer 

 following and it was not until 1892 that much progress was made 

 along this line. In that year, thick windbreaks of Manitoba 

 maple (Acer negundo), were planted around the north and west 

 sides of the farm and as soon as these had become large enough 

 to provide shelter, they were found to aid greatly in the acclimi- 

 tization of many varieties which had formerly proved too 

 tender to resist the sweeping prairie winds. There are now 

 some 100,000 ornamental trees and shrubs on the Experimental 

 Farm, in avenues, shelter belts and groups. These represent 

 about forty species and over two hundred varieties. When the 

 farm was established, not a tree or bush was visible to a person 

 standing at the centre of the area purchased for experimental 

 work. The contrast is a striking one and the example of what 

 time, patience and correct methods can do, must, during the 

 quarter-century of the farm'^ existence, have stimulated many 

 a settler to beautify the. surroundings of his new home on the 

 prairie. 



In 1896, a variety of Russian Crab Apple (Pyrus baccata) 

 was obtained and proved to be very hardy, but its fruit was small. 

 By crossing with some of the standard varieties of apple, which 

 themselves were too tender to stand the climate of Saskatchewan, 

 several promising varieties suitable for the west have been pro- 

 duced. Considerable attention has also been given to plums 

 and several kinds are now grown with fair success. There 

 are at present about 1,500 fruit trees on the Farm. 



Besides the tree fruits, seventy varieties of currants are 

 grown, as well as seventeen sorts of raspberries, twenty of goose- 

 berries and two of strawberries. 



Vegetables of all sorts, including potatoes, have been 

 extensively tested year after year and seldom fail to give satis- 

 factory returns, although occasionally tomatoes and beans suffer 

 from early frosts. 



The live stock and dairying industries have been slow of 

 growth in Saskatchewan, due to several causes. Nothing was 

 known of the possibility of growing the different kinds of rough 

 fodder required. The introduction of various sorts of hardy 

 grasses, the proof that clovers, including alfalfa, Indian corn for 

 ensilage, roots, etc., could be profitably grown, rested with the 

 Experimental Farm and has been successfully performed. 



The prairie country was regarded by the early settlers from 

 the one point of view, as a producer of No. 1 wheat, and the 



