75 
Many varieties of grain have been brought to Canada for test Prom nearly 
all the grain-growing countries In the world. This has been done with the ii< >] •» • 
of finding varieties equal In quality and productiveness t«. the best of those 
now in cultivation and earlier In ripening. Borne wheats have been brought 
from Qorthern Russia and other northern parts of Europe; some from high 
altitudes in India: others from England, France, Germany, Hungary, the United 
States, Australia, and Japan. The wheats from northern Europe and from 
India have usually ripened in a shorter tfrne than the Red Fife, which is one 
of the best sorts in genera] cultivation in Cauada, but most of them have been 
Inferior in quality and productiveness. 
During the progress of those experiments many cross-bred wheats have been 
originated with the object of combining the good qualities of two or more 
varieties, in most of these crosses Red Fife has been used as one of the part nts 
on account of its high quality and productive character. 
One of the early introduced sorts from Russia was the Ladoga, which was. on 
an average, a week earlier than the Red Fife. This was unacceptable on account 
of the yellow color i^i the flour made from it. hut it was crossed with the lied 
Fife and a number of new sorts produced. One of these, known as Preston, 
has exceeded the Red Fife in yield during a test of eight years by If bushels 
per acre, and has ripened on an average about four days earlier. 
Another variety, known as Early Riga, was obtained by crossing one of 
the East Indian varieties procured from an elevation of 11. imio feet in the 
Himalayas with a Russian wheat brought from near Archangel, one id" the most 
northerly wheat-growing districts in Russia. These were both early ripening 
sorts and were of good quality, hut were not sufficiently productive. The Early 
Riga ripens about ten days earlier than the Red Fife or the Blue Stem, and is 
fully equal if not better iu quality, hut the yield, although good, is not quite so 
heavy. 
These gains in earliness are of great importance in Canada, in view of the 
immense territory we have lying north of the present wheat fields. Such 
varieties will no doubt serve to materially extend the area of successful wheat 
growing. About 1.000 new varieties of wheat have been produced at the Cana- 
dian experimental farms in the manner indicated, and among these there are 
many promising sorts. 
Experiments have been conducted for a series of years to ascertain the quan- 
tity of seed grain most profitable to sow per acre, the depth in the soil at which 
the seed should be placed in the different climates in the Dominion, aud the 
relative advantages of sowing with different sorts of drills as compared with 
broadcast seeding. 
The object lessons which have been given in the raising of fodder crops and 
the making of silage, thus providing cheap and succulent food for cattle 
during the winter, have greatly stimulated the dairy industry, especially the 
manufacture of butter in winter. The experiments carried on with reference 
to the care of milk and the economical production of butter of high quality have 
received much attention from those engaged in dairying. The experience gained 
in the economical feeding of cattle, swine, and sheep, and in testing those breeds 
best adapted to produce the highest quality of beef, pork, and mutton, has stimu- 
lated and aided the stock industries. The business in eggs and dressed fowls 
for the table has also been advanced by the publication of the results of experi- 
ments in the poultry branch. 
The instructive tests which have been made with large and small fruits have 
served to show where these can be grown to the greatest advantage, and have 
been helpful in promoting fruit growing over those large areas in Canada where 
the climate is so well adapted to the growth of fruits of high quality. 
Special efforts have been made to meet the difficulties which arise in the more 
northern districts where the better classes of existing fruits prove too tender. 
For such localities new sorts have been produced by the cross fertilizing of very 
hardy wild Siberian forms with some of the hardiest of our cultivated apples. 
It has been shown that such cross-bred fruits are hardy enough to endure the 
climate in all the settled parts of the Canadian northwest 
The information which has been given on the growing of vegetables and the 
varieties best suited to the different climates of the country has proved very 
helpful. Many practical experiments have been conducted in the growing of 
forest trees to furnish shelter for exposed situations. Earge quantities of young 
trees and tree seeds have been distributed among farmers in those districts 
where trees are scarce. Some limited distribution has also been made of 
