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SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXVI. No. 661 



search, and for giving assistance in such 

 ways as may be practicable to the indi- 

 vidual farmer in his every-day work. The 

 Ontario Agricultural College at Guelph, 

 instituted in the seventies, has earned a 

 continental reputation for the excellence of 

 the training given her students, now to be 

 found on farms and in technical positions 

 all over the land. A large amount of very 

 valuable experimental work has also been 

 done at Guelph and, through the coopera- 

 tive society of her graduates, in various 

 parts of the province of Ontario. The sys- 

 tem of farmers' institutes has been a fur- 

 ther means of disseminating the principles 

 of modern agriculture in the various prov- 

 inces, chiefly by lectures and addresses, and 

 also to some extent by practical demonstra- 

 tions in the field. Manitoba and the mari- 

 time provinces within the past three years 

 have established agricultural colleges which, 

 besides doing strictly collegiate work, are 

 fast becoming active centers for the propa- 

 gation of agricultural knowledge. 



It is just twenty years ago since the fed- 

 eral government established the Experi- 

 mental Farm system, comprising at that 

 time a central institution at Ottawa with a 

 scientific staff and laboratories, and four 

 branch farms, located, respectively, at Nap- 

 pan (Nova Scotia), Brandon (Manitoba), 

 Indian Head (N. W. T.) and Agassiz (Brit- 

 ish Columbia). Quite recently two others 

 have been added to this list, at Lethbridge, 

 southern Alberta, and Lacombe, northern 

 Alberta. The immediate establishment of 

 others, both in the east and in the west is 

 under' contemplation by the government. 



It would be altogether too long a story 

 to tell you, even in outline, of the experi- 

 mental work done in the various branches 

 of agriculture during these years by the 

 experimental farms, in stock-feeding, in 

 dairying, in soil management, in the growth 

 of crops, in the use of manures, in the 



originating and distributing new and im- 

 proved cereals and roots, in orchard work, 

 in disseminating information relating to the 

 prevention of insect and fungous pests. 

 But is it not all recorded in the reports and 

 bulletins of the farm, no doubt to be found 

 on the shelves of your libraries ? 



I must not, however, omit to say that 

 there is a very large amount of work done 

 which finds but little permanent record. 

 The experimental farms are not only for 

 research and experimentation, but for the 

 dissemination of information on agricul- 

 tural matters generally. We have endeav- 

 ored to make each farm, and especially the 

 central farm at Ottawa, a bureau to which 

 all engaged in farming should feel them- 

 selves at liberty to apply for advice and 

 instruction. To this end the privilege of 

 sending letters to the central farm, Ottawa, 

 free of postage was extended by the govern- 

 ment and has been largely used. The ex- 

 perimental farm undoubtedly* exerts an in- 

 fluence of great practical value through this 

 correspondence, the magnitude of which 

 will be apparent when I tell you that from 

 the central farm alone in the neighborhood 

 of 35,000 letters are sent out annually in 

 addition to reports, bulletins and other 

 printed matter. This branch of the work 

 has served to keep the farm officers in touch 

 with the farmers in all parts of the Domin- 

 ion. Further, it has brought to our notice 

 many difficulties which have subsequently 

 furnished most interesting subjects for re- 

 search and we can point to many valuable 

 results to the country at large that have 

 arisen in the first place from a farmer's 

 inquiry. 



But it is of the chemical work more par- 

 ticularly that I am to speak to-day. Agri- 

 culture is not a branch of chemistry, but it 

 is, nevertheless, to-day a vocation which calls 

 for the intelligent application of principles 

 based on chemical truths. Physics and 



