1913] The Work of the Dominion Experimental Farms 23 



to us. The value of the data so obtained will be apparent, not only 

 for the present but for the future successful farming of these lands. 

 Soil analysis is a tedious affair, but we have during the course of years 

 put on record the data of many types of soils found in the Dominion. 

 Two years ago we were able to issue an important bulletin on the Western 

 prairie soils, which has received wide recognition. This work continues, 

 and our labours in this connection have been extended in recent years 

 to typical soils from Nova Scotia and New Brunswick in the East and 

 British Columbia in the West. We have found the knowledge so gained 

 of much assistance in advising our farmers respecting the economic 

 up-keep of these lands and in the use of manures and fertilisers. 



Conservation of Soil Moisture. 



In districts of sparse rainfall, as in certain parts of North-Western 

 Canada, in which, unless there be provision for irrigation, the so-called 

 "dry-farming" methods must be practised, the question of the absorp- 

 tion and retention of moisture by the soil is all-important. The principles 

 of moisture conservation are fairly well and widely understood, but 

 there yet remain many features in the economical working of the soil 

 to be satisfactorily settled. The value of sub-soiling, the depth and 

 time of ploughing, the frequency, nature and depth of surface cultivation, 

 the value and kind of sub-surface packing are all points requiring in- 

 vestigation on both heavy and light soils. In the autumn of 1910, 

 therefore, an exhaustive series of experiments in soil culture was planned 

 by the Agriculturist and Chemist, to be carried out at a number of the 

 Western Experimental Farms, to learn the effect of various cultural 

 treatments on crop yields and with the hope that these yields might be 

 correlated with the moisture content of the soils. To this end determina- 

 tions of the moisture in samples taken to several depths from the experi- 

 mental plots at regular intervals throughout the season have been made. 

 The results indicate the influence of the several cultural methods under 

 examination on the moisture content of the soil to a depth of 5 feet. 

 Several hundreds of such samples have been examined monthly during 

 the past two seasons. We find that the moisture content of the soil 

 may be profoundly modified by the nature and time of treatment em- 

 ployed, and several facts of considerable practical importance in the 

 working of the land, looking to a greater conservation of moisture, have 

 been brought out. 



The Fertilising Value of Rain and Snow. 

 The nitrogen compounds present in the rain and snow as falling at 

 Ottawa have been determined since 1906. This investigation is being 



