94  State  Aid  to  Agriculture  in  Canada. 
Smith  and  Resolution  op  the  Great  Slave  River  and  Fort  Provi- 
dence on  the  Great  Slave  Lake  beyond  the  60th  parallel  of 
latitude. 
At  each  of  the  Branch  Farms  a superintendent  is  in  charge, 
but  ,all  are  under  the  general  control  of  the  director  at  the 
Central  Farm.  The  experiments  at  the  Branch  Farms  have 
special  relation  to  local  conditions.  Though  each  covers  a 
wide  field,  fruit  cultivation  receives  special  attention  in  Nova 
Scotia  and  British  Columbia  ; while  the  prairie  farms  study 
cereal  production,  especially  wheat,  and  conduct  experiments 
in  the  winter  feeding  of  live  stock.  At  Lethbridge,  in  the 
dry  belt  of  southern  Alberta,  the  farm  is  divided  into  two 
portions,  one  devoted  to  dry  farming  and  the  other  to  the 
growth  of  crops  by  artificial  irrigation. 
Live  Stock. — Two  Branches  of  the  Department  of  Agri- 
culture are  specially  concerned  with  farm  live  stock,  one 
with  encouragement  of  the  production  of  pure-bred  animals 
and  the  other  with  the  control  of  contagious  diseases.  Both 
are  under  the  chief  direction  of  the  same  officer  (Dr.  J.  G. 
Rutherford,  C.M.G.),  who  is  known  in  the  one  capacity  as 
Live  Stock  Commissioner  and  in  the  other  as  Veterinary 
Director-General.  The  Live  Stock  Branch  co-operates  with 
the  provincial  Departments  and  with  the  organisers  of  shows 
or  fairs  by  providing  the  best  available  judges  at  a cost  not 
greater  than  would  be  incurred  if  local  judges  were  employed. 
This  plan  ensures  strict  impartiality  and  the  best  results  from 
an  educational  point  of  view  in  the  correct  placing  of  the 
exhibits,  while  the  great  distances  in  Canada  l'ender  such  aid 
by  the  central  Government  of  considerable  value.  Direct 
financial  assistance  is  also  extended  to  winter  fairs  and 
provincial  auction  sales  of  pure-bred  stock  on  condition  that 
the  entries  are  not  limited  to  the  province  in  which  they 
are  held.  Lectures  on  practical  agricultural  subjects  are  a 
regular  feature  of  these  exhibitions,  and  the  organisation  of 
a corps  of  qualified  speakers  is  another  of  the  duties  under- 
taken by  the  Branch. 
As  in  England,  live  stock  pedigree  registers  have  long 
existed  in  Canada,  but  their  multiplication,  before  Con- 
federation abolished  the  old  geographical  boundaries,  had, 
with  other  causes,  introduced  intolerable  confusion.  This  has 
now  been  remedied  under  the  provisions  of  the  Live  Stock 
Pedigree  Act,  1900,  by  which  the  records  have  become  both 
unified  and  nationalised.  Under  the  plan  adopted  the  various 
breed  societies,  while  each  continues  responsible  for  the  local 
management  of  its  own  affairs,  are  represented  upon  a 
National  Record  Board  for  the  issue  of  pedigree  certificates. 
The  Dominion  Department  of  Agriculture  provides  offices  in 
