1912.] Grain Growers' Associations in Canada. 855 



the Branch is carried on throughout the whole of Canada 

 by means of meetings, farmers' conferences, seed shows, and 

 competitions, the co-operation of the provincial Departments 

 of Agriculture being in some cases obtained. 



One type of competition, started in Western Canada in 

 1906, which has become very popular, takes the form of a 

 contest between farmers to see who can grow the best crops 

 from specified seed. The judges are officials of the Seed 

 Branch, or experienced farmers. These competitions have 

 proved of considerable educational value by demonstrating 

 on a large scale the better results which can be obtained by 

 the use of selected seed. 



The Canadian Seed Growers' Association. — This is one of 

 the most important organisations of its kind in Canada. It 

 receives a money grant and is also assisted in other ways by 

 the Department of Agriculture. It aims at encouraging, by 

 combined effort, the use and production on Canadian farms of 

 good seed only. Grain grown under the supervision of the 

 Association for a certain time can be registered, either as pure 

 seed or simply as registered seed, an examination of a sample 

 being made in each case. 



There are also two important associations in Ontario for 

 the cultivation of cereals for seed, viz., the Ontario Agricul- 

 tural and Experimental Union and the Ontario Corn 

 Growers' Association. 



The Ontario Agricultural and Experimental Union. — This 

 Union was founded in 1880 with the object of keeping past 

 pupils of the Ontario Agricultural College in touch with the 

 staff, and also with the work of the College. In this way the 

 opinions and experience of farmers have been brought to the 

 notice of the staff of the College, while the farmers have been 

 able to benefit by the experiments carried out at the College. 



The first combined experiments were carried out by the 

 members of the Union on their own farms in 1886, > and many 

 new and improved varieties* of cereals, &c, are now cultivated 

 as a result of the work thus begun. 



The method adopted is to distribute each spring a scheme 

 of experiments for the year. The tests are usually of a simple 

 character, such as the testing of the productive quality of 

 different varieties of grain, roots, &c. The necessary seed is 



