92  State  Aid  to  Agriculture  in  Canada. 
practical  and  scientific  work  of  the  Central  Farm  is  organised 
in  seven  divisions  comprising  (1)  agriculture;  (2)  horticulture; 
(3)  plant  breeding  and  selection  ; (4)  chemical  analyses  and 
research  ; (5)  agricultural  entomology ; (6)  agricultural  botany, 
and  (7)  poultry.  These  divisions  show  how  comprehensive  is 
the  nature  of  the  practical  and  scientific  work  undertaken  for 
the  benefit  of  Canadian  farmers. 
Only  a very  few  of  the  results  of  the  numerous  experiments 
conducted  during  the  past  twenty  years  can  be  mentioned. 
Early  sowing,  for  instance,  is  now  a cardinal  point  of  Canadian 
practice.  That  this  is  so  is  due  mainly  to  the  conclusive 
evidence  derived  from  experiments  which  have  shown  how  under 
the  conditions  of  a short  season,  combined  with  extraordinary 
rapidity  of  growth,  even  the  briefest  delays  may  materially 
affect  the  crop  results.  Then  again  the  Branch  Farms  of  the 
west  have  proved  the  value  of  summer  fallowing,  a practice 
which  through  conservation  of  moisture  in  the  ground  and 
destruction  of  weeds  enables  the  crops  to  resist  drought  and 
results  in  better  yields.1 
Good  work  is  being  accomplished  by  the  annual  free  distri- 
bution of  samples  of  well  cleaned  seed  of  improved  varieties 
of  grain  and  of  seed  potatoes.  As  each  sample  weighs  from 
3 to  5 lb.,  according  to  variety,  a careful  farmer  soon  obtains 
sufficient  seed  for  his  own  purposes  with  a surplus  for  sale. 
The  average  annual  distribution  since  1887  has  numbered 
38,000  samples,  and  last  year  (1909-10)  the  total  number 
reached  45,051. 
Apart  from  the  general  experimental  plots,  about  200  acres 
of  the  Central  Farm  have  been  reserved  since  1899  for  cultiva- 
tion as  a practical  farm  under  a five-year  rotation.  In  the 
horticultural  division  about  40  acres  are  devoted  to  experiments 
with  fruits,  chiefly  apples,  but  including  also  outdoor  grapes 
and  a great  variety  of  small  fruits  and  vegetables,  while  flowers, 
including  roses,  are  not  neglected. 
Interesting  and  important  work  is  being  carried  out  by  the 
cerealist,  especially  in  regard  to  wheat  varieties,  for  which 
the  chief  desiderata  are  early  ripening,  freedom  from  rust,  and 
good  baking  qualities.  A miniature  experimental  flour  mill, 
with  electric  baking  outfit,  renders  possible  the  milling  of 
small  quantities  of  grain  and  the  consequent  early  rejection 
of  unsuitable  varieties. 
The  work  of  the  Chemical  Division  is  practically  identical 
with  that  of  Dr.  Voelcker  for  this  Society,  the  difference,  how- 
ever, being  that  the  Dominion  Chemist  and  his  four  assistants 
1 Summer  fallowing  in  Canada  consists  in  ploughing,  harrowing,  and 
otherwise  tilling  the  land  throughout  the  summer,  and  leaving  it  unseeded 
until  the  autumn  or  succeeding  spring. 
