326 



GENERAL AGRICULTURAL NOTES; 



[March 1895. 



blacksmith at Bellary appears to have got out a large consigair 

 ment of these ploughs from Sweden." 



Experimental Farms in Canada. 



, The Statistical Year Book of Canada, recently issued by the 

 Canadian Department of Agriculture, contains some infor- 

 mation respecting the experimental farms of Canada. The 

 establishment of such farms in the Dominion was authorised by 

 an Act of Parliament in 1886. They are £ve in number, and 

 contain in all about 3,100 acres of land. There is a central 

 experimental farm located at the capital, Ottawa^ and there are 

 four branch farms in the other provinces, viz. : — at Nappa in 

 Nova Scotia, at Brandon in Manitoba, at Indian Head in 

 Assiniboia, and at Agassiz in British Columbia. i 



At these farms, many experiments are in progress in all the 

 branches of agriculture, horticulture, and arboriculture, and many 

 problems of great importance to farmers have already been 

 solved. In selecting the sites for the farms, due regard has 

 been had to the great variations in climate in diiFerent parts of 

 the Dominion, and they have been so placed as to render efficient 

 help to the farmers in the more thickly- settled districts. 



The Central Farm has about 500 acres of land and a complete 

 outfit of buildings with residences for the chief officers. There 

 are buildings for cattle, horses, swine, and poultry. There is 

 also a dairy with all modern appliances for experimental work ; 

 and a seed-testing and propagating house, with accommodation for 

 the distribution of large quantities of promising seed-grain for 

 test by farmers in different parts of the country. A chemical 

 laboratory, thoroughly equipped with apparatus, has been esta- 

 blished, and analyses are conducted of soils, fodder plants, 

 grasses, roots, &c., and of natural fertilisers, such as muds, mucks, 

 and marls from many, parts of the Dominion. Waters for 

 drinking purposes are also tested for purity, and m.any other 

 useful lines of work bearing on agricultural pursuits are under- 

 taken in this branch. 



The chief officers are a director, with his headquarters at 

 Ottawa, who supervises and directs the work on all the farms, 

 and makes personal inspection of the branch farms at least once 

 a year; an agriculturist, who conducts experiments with cattle 

 and swine, and fills the important position of dairy commis- 

 sioner for the Dominion ; a horticulturist, who has charge of 

 the extensive orchards and fruit plantations at Ottawa, and 

 who carries on experimental work in the growing of fruits 

 and vegetables and in the treatment of the various diseases to 

 which they are subject ; and a botanist and entomologist, who, 

 with the aid of an assistant, investigate the subjects of in- 

 jurious insects, noxious weeds, and plant diseases occurring 



