DOMINION EXPERIMENTAL FARMS 129 



out flooding. When it is desired to give an irrigation, make a 

 small trench between the rows, without throwing earth against 

 the plants if possible, and then allow only a small stream of 

 water to trickle down. 



An excellent plan for a garden on a non-irrigated farm is 

 to have it double the size required, keeping half of it in summer 

 fallow so as to provide for a good supply of moisture in the 

 subsoil in dry years. Use only well-rotted manure and apply 

 it the season the land is being summer-fallowed. This insures 

 a more thorough incorporation of the manure with the soil, 

 which increases the latter's ability to retain moisture, a point 

 fully as important as an increase in fertility. Always give 

 level cultivation and hill or bank the plants as little as possible 

 to avoid drying out the land. 



With flowers, there is a long list of the hardy annuals that 

 thrive with any reasonable care, but among them all, there is 

 none that reaches greater perfection or meets with more popular 

 favour under our conditions than does the sweet pea. The 

 pansy is also a great favourite, producing particularly large 

 blooms. 



In any flower garden, and particularly in a farmer's, the 

 hardy perennials have a place, and among them there is none 

 more deserving of special mention than the pseony, not only 

 on account of its beauty, but on account of its hardiness after 

 it is once estabhshed. 



Cultural Work. 



On account of the light rainfall in Southern Alberta, special 

 attention has to be given the cultural methods employed in 

 order to obtain maximum results. Much has yet to be learned 

 in regard to details, but, speaking broadly, it is necessary for a 

 farmer to keep one-third of his land under summer-fallow each 

 year. The main object aimed at is to conserve moisture. The 

 year that the land is fallow, all the precipitation has a chance 

 to percolate down into the subsoil, none of it being used to 

 support vegetation, and it is thus stored in an available place 

 for the crop to draw upon during the periods of dry weather the 

 following season. It is probable that the effect of a summer- 

 fallow extends in a certain measure to the second crop following. 



In beginning the cultivation of virgin prairie, experience 

 has taught that, as a rule, it does not pay to plant a crop on land 

 freshly broken before the sods have been given a chance to rot. 

 The best results are obtained by breaking the sod in May or 

 early June and allowing it to stand during the summer. In 

 the latter part of August, winter wheat (or rye, if desired), may 

 be sown or the land may be allowed to stand over for spring 

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