FARM CROPS OF CAXADA IN 1901 61 



By Mr. Richardson: 



Q. What is Brome grass. Is it pccuHar to the North-west ? 



A. It is a European grass which has proven to be a most important and valuable 

 grass in the North-west. During my first visit to Manitoba and the North-west Terri- 

 tories in 188T, seeking information as to the conditions of agriculture there, I tried to 

 impress on the farmers the importance of their keeping more stock, but the common 

 reply was that they could not do so, as they had nothing but the native grasses on which 

 to depend for pasture, and while they had been able to keep a limited quantity of cattle 

 in the past, as settlement increased and the hay lands were taken up they had to go 

 farther and farther away from home to secure hay, and in some instances they had to 

 draw it as far as thirty to forty miles. Their plan then was to go out and cut the 

 grass and make the hay in the summer time and draw it in in the winter. This, of 

 course, took much time and labour, and the hay was too scarce to admit of any great 

 increase in the quantity of stock that could be kept profitably. They said : If you can 

 find us a grass which we can grow for hay, that will be a great help to us. We sent to 

 Russia and got samples of many different sorts of grass that grow there, either for 

 use as hay or fodder. Amongst those samples we got this Brome grass, about two 

 pounds of it, and it was tested at all the farms, with very satisfactory results. As 

 soon as we found its value larger quantities of the seed were ordered from Russia and 

 northern Germauy, and we established large fields of it at Indian Head and Brandon, 

 where it has done remarkably well. It has succeeded almost everywhere and there are 

 now many thousands of acres of that grass growing in the North-west, and the area 

 devoted to it is increasing yearly. It makes excellent hay and good pasture, and is very 

 hardy. 



Q. What proportion of seed to the acre do you use ? 



A. About ten or twelve pounds to the acre, sometimes more, but that is usually 

 sufiieient. 



Q. How does it crop ? 



A. In a favourable season it will usually give a crop of two or two and a half 

 tons of hay to the acre. Sometimes it will produce more than that. 



By Mr. Heyd: 



Q. Have you to sow the seed every year ? 

 A. No ; it is a perennial gi-ass. 



By Mr. Eohinson (Elgin) : 



Q. Is it any good in Ontario ? 



A. Yes, it has been tried with good results. We had on the experimental farm 

 here a striking instance of the preference of cattle for it. We sowed Brome grass and 

 timothy together in the same field so that it came up in patches; 20 cows were put 

 out on it to pasture. After a time it was noticed that the pasture looked very uneven 

 and patchy, and on examination it was found that all the Brome grass had been eaten 

 down to the ground, while the timothy was going to seed, furnishing conclusive proof of 

 the preference that cattle had for it. It is a very succulent grass and an analysis of it. 

 shows that it compares well with other nutritious grasses. 



Q. How would it do sown with clover ? 



A. I cannot tell you, as we haven't tried that. 



By Mr. Stephens: 



Q. Is it an expensive seed ? 



A. No, we have distributed in sample bags of 1 pound each, thousands of pounds 

 of it through the North-west, sending it to every one. who asks for it. We grow large 

 quantities of the seed every year on the experimental farms at Brandon and Indian 



