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z' 
 
 SCIENTIFIC FARMING. 
 
 ADDRESSES 
 
 BY — 
 
 PR01-. SAUNDHRS I-.K.S.C. F.I..S.. F.C.S., 
 
 Diiv. i.ir nf ihc Caiuuli.m IS Jiiiiuntal Farms, 
 
 A X I) : 
 
 JAMKS l-LI< rcm-.R. I^K.S.C.. I'.I.S. 
 
 I Miwiniiuiii l'iii.imi)lr,i>ist niid Itotanisi. 
 
 )K1.i\i;ri;i) nr.ioRK ini.; xoRiii lanakk i-armers' 
 
 INSrnU'l'K. A'l' ALMONI'K. 
 
 < ) T r A W A : 
 
 i'RIMKl) lY IIU (. ni/.KN I'RINTINd AND PuhLISHlN ; COMPANY, 
 
 iS8S. 
 
 Kii-'- .-■' -rr.,if*tflr) 
 
 :^', .. X^^'^.S^' '':^^.-:H.'''' / 
 
! 
 
 '1 niii ih.' Ottawa D^ii'y ('iTr/.i:x, Deo. I'itti. 1><'<7.) 
 
 /■///; Ito.MiMoX CHSTllAI. I'.Xl'KRl. 
 
 MESTAI. FARM. 
 
 In to-day's issue wo pulilisli a n'lioit of tlie 
 lir<K,pc(liiigs of the annual meeting of the 
 Nortli Lanark Karnufs' Instituto, lifM at 
 Almonte, a few days ago, in which will Iw 
 fonnil matter of great iiiteiest to agrieulturists, 
 and inoidentally to the comin-niity in general. 
 
 The address of Prof. Saunders is marked liy 
 ti.f- clearness whieh his utteranees aii.l writ- 
 ings arc known to posse**, and it certainly 
 airf)ri'8 an answer to the nuestion wliieh i.s 
 oftrn asked : What is the use of Exivriniental 
 I'arms? He shows that they were tlixt 
 cstahlishod by associations of f.inin i-b in (ier- 
 rnany, who saw the ui-ed for the work they 
 could do ; they were afterwavls taken up hy 
 the (loverniueiit of that t'ountry ; and tluuce 
 '.h<y soon spread to other countries which 
 have maiie any aJvaiice in agriculture. There 
 :ir»' many experiment,'* in pnictical agriculture 
 whieh are important to every farmer, but 
 which every fanner lias neither the leisure nor 
 the facility to try. It i.s tlierefore, in the 
 rommon interest, ami we use this terra in the 
 widest sense, for the fivrming interest affects 
 the whole country, that lliese experiments 
 .sh'iuld b<! tried by ihe tlovemmont ; and the 
 
 tartfiing population allorded the advantage of 
 the results. We tiiink tiie (iovernment of Sir 
 .'ohu A. Macdonnld may luirly be congratu- 
 lated upon the progress which has b«'en already 
 made and which is no clearly described in the 
 addn-ss of Mr. Saunders. .Viul it cannot be 
 without interest to the I'remier's constituents 
 in Carletoii that the Central Experimental 
 Karm for the I'lt/viiu'es ot Qnebec and Ontario 
 should be established in their county, it 
 must also be a matter of congratulation for th(! 
 Hon. John Carling, the Ministerof Agricnlture, 
 to see the very successful working of one of his 
 most cherished projects. Still further, tiie 
 farmers of the country may be oongratulated 
 on the fact that practical agriculture is being 
 intelligently and ivotively treated .is an applied 
 science by the (iovernment of tlie Dominion, 
 in such way as to keep it abreast, if not to 
 place it iu the front rank, with the liest 
 practice in agriculture in other countries, 
 instead of being allowed to drift along as best 
 • t might by the light of the sometimes effec- 
 tive, perhaps, rule of thumb, or exi)eriment8 
 of individual farmers, very often conducted 
 under diihculties. One practical In-nefit which 
 appears to be clear in the steps already taken, 
 is that a new wheat has l)een imprrted, which 
 is descrilK'd as being about the etjual of tlie 
 
 Ke>lFife in hardness ami excellenc.-, but which 
 iui.«, for parts of this Dominion, the almost 
 inestimable value of riixniug from one to two 
 weeks eailier. If this wheat had Ix-en avail- 
 able iu Manitoba and the tlistriets of th« 
 North-West in the years 18>»3 and 1884, it 
 wouM have prevouted what Wiis really a 
 ciilamity; and it maybe broadly stated that 
 the introduction of this wheat alone greatly 
 outweighs in value to the .'ountry all the 
 c.xpenuiture whiih Las been made, or we 
 might almost sav which can be made, on the 
 Kxperinitntul Farms. Prof. Saunders shows 
 tiiat many grains and roots have a tendency to 
 inn out, and if practical inf^irmation is afford- 
 ed to farmers on this {wjint, it cannot fail to 
 be of great importance to them. We, our- 
 si'lves, ho](e greatly for the results from the 
 liorticultural experiments which liave Ix-ca set 
 on foot. If these succeed in furnishing infor- 
 mation to the farmers of the old provinces of 
 the particular fruit trees, which are better 
 adapted tfi their circumstiuces than those at 
 present fo'uid, the country will be made botti 
 richer and more plea.SiUit to live in thereby. 
 This remark even more strongly applies to 
 Manitoba and the North-West. There the 
 hick of fruit trees is a great deprivation. But 
 it is believed that tho8<> vaiietiiw, which 
 succeed, in Northern Russia, will succeed 
 there ; and this, we understand, will be tried 
 by the exp«'riments now being conducted under 
 Prof. Saunders' dire.tion. And even in the 
 matter of seed testing, if farmers iu Canada 
 cati, in many instance?, as they have Ix-eu in 
 other countries, be saved from the evil conse- 
 ((Uenees of sowing seeds of which a sufficient 
 percentage will not germiintle, both they and 
 the country will be saved from loss. Prof. 
 Saunders shows that a goo<l l)eginning has 
 been m.ide in this res]»ect, and and that los»«;a 
 have been prevented. These te»ts are easily 
 avaihible. .Vrrangerneuts have Imen made 
 with the Post Office Dep.irtment for the 
 transmission of the seeds, and each fanner is 
 protnptly informed of the value of the speci- 
 mens sent by him for examination. There 
 are many other {toints in the report before us 
 which we are tempted to enlarge upon, but 
 our object is less to refer in detail to the 
 matters so clearly stated iu the address as to 
 direct attention to it. 
 
 The address of Mr. James Fletcher, the 
 Dominion Entomologist and Botanist, also 
 contains matter of great interest and import- 
 ance to farmers ; we can only, however, iu 
 this place, direct attention to it. 
 
 / 
 
(From ilie Itiport in Ihe OtIawH Daily Citizjn, DcoemltT I5th, 1887.) 
 
 Lanark Farmers. 
 
 Annual Meeting of their Institute for Business Purposes. 
 
 ADDRESSES BY PROF. SAUNDERS AND MR. JAMES FLETCHER 
 
 Of the Government Central Experimental Farm. Ottawa. 
 
 QUESTIONS OF GREAT INTEREST DISCUSSED. 
 
 Almo!ite, lOtl).— The aunuul lucjting of the 
 North Lanark Farinore' Institute lor tho elec- 
 tion of oflkerH iind otlier business was held in 
 the Town liiill here to-dny. Mr. C. M. 
 Simpson, I'resitlent of the Institute, presided, 
 assisted by Mr. John Steele, Secretary. 
 
 After Konie preliminary discussions V>y meni- 
 
 hera of the .society an address was di jvered by 
 
 Prof. Saunders, IMl.S.C;., the Director of the 
 
 Ooveminei.t Kxpciimental Farms. 
 
 R»p4>rlui<-n<al Anplrnltiiw anil IIh Valwr lu 
 lb<> I'aruiiTM. 
 
 Trof. Saun4ers said : It iilfords nu> a great 
 deal of jdeiusure. indeeil, to he witli you to-day, 
 a double ple.iwure for the reiison that hist year 
 when your Secretary was kind enough to invite 
 me to come to your annual meeting, and 1 liad 
 mode (^very arrangement to attend, the 
 evening belom I was attacked with a violent 
 illness which eonlined me to my Imd for some 
 days, 1 have listened wiih much inteiest to 
 your di8<'u.ssion of subjects connected with 
 fanning which are of so much imporfauce to 
 yoursi'lves and to the country. 1 think it is a 
 good sign when institutes of this kind arc so 
 well pati-onizeil and so well attended, uotwith- 
 standingthe inclemency of tho weather ; when 
 larmers meet together to discuss tho results of 
 their own exix'rience, tho character of tho 
 cropa they have grown under dilfereut condi- 
 tions of soil, and diiferent circumstanocH, and 
 ctimpan> notes ami tliereby benefit each other 
 by tho inte'^;hange of ideaain all such matters. 
 
 It indicates that a community of this .sort con- 
 si.sts of tiiiiiking men. A farming community 
 that exiTcises itself in that diii'dion will 
 always be a proserous one, and will be well to 
 tlie frunt in ;;11 dcpartnuutf, of agricultural 
 work. 
 
 AORlrXl/rURK AM) V.XrKKIMKNT.VI, SriKSCE. 
 
 .\griculture is and always has been an experi- 
 mental science, and in the very nature of the 
 subject it must always Ik-. Mo.st of the 
 experience we have in agricuUnre has been 
 obtained by the pnu'ticnl experimenting of 
 individual farmers, a few facts gleaned here 
 and there, ami these nddetl into one great simi 
 constitute our present knowledge of tho art. 
 Up to within a recent jwrioil very little had 
 l>een done either by focieties or by Govern- 
 ments to aid individual effort in this particular 
 line of woik. it wa.s only about thirty years 
 ago that the first ngriculttiral experiment*! 
 station wa.H estaltlished in Germany, and thia 
 was the lirst elfort made in any part of the 
 world to bring to bear on fanning o}»erationa 
 the benefits of scientiltc training. A numl)«r 
 of farmers met together in one of the province* 
 of Germany and there resdved to establish ati 
 exi^crimental farm on a small fioalo in older to 
 save them individually the cost and trouble of 
 each one experimenting for himself. They 
 selected a ujanager for this fami, and atartcd 
 a course of cxjieriments, and shortly afWt 
 applied to the Government to help thent ih 
 the mntter. The Govennnent enquired inth 
 
■t 
 
 the subject, and hclipvinpr that tlie schcint 
 was a good one, and that it was likely to jto- 
 iace excellent results, voted a sum uf money 
 t« aid in the work. Within a few years 
 several similai institutions were started in 
 other parts of CJerniany, and they have gained 
 ii) popular favour from year to year until now, 
 in most countries in Euro{>c holding anything 
 like an advanced position in agriculture, there 
 -Atfe many of those exjvcrimental institutions 
 wbere scientilc work is carried on regularly, 
 the results are giwn to the farming coui- 
 innnity, and they .eap the benefit of the 
 ejq^rieiice so gained for them. From the 
 outset the cost and maintenance of those 
 institutions has Ik-cu home almost entirely hy 
 the Oov'ernment of the countiy in which they 
 *.ire located. 
 
 THK VAl.l.K OK SCIKN TIF(: KXrEUIMENTS To 
 TIIK KAILVEU. 
 
 It has often been asked, "Of what ])riieticiil 
 iwe are tiiase institutions to the farm r '" 
 Well, there are many cxperiineuts which 
 could and shoiild lie carried on to benefit tiie 
 agriculturists which (b mand more time, more 
 risk and more careful iittention than fanners 
 ran alford to <,'ive, ami the u.se of apjiaratiis 
 which farmers liave not at their command in 
 order to work out s.itisliuaovily all the details 
 connected with the tests, so that there are 
 classes of experiments whicli larmers cannot 
 well undertake for themselves, and wliich are 
 of great value to the community. 
 
 riX>VKH AR AN AClTMn ATOK OK MTROI-.KN. 
 
 There is imt a farmer iirescnt, 1 i)rcsume, but 
 knows the value of clover as a grcn luanuiv. 
 It is a subject that evu yune is familiiir with, 
 and then' is, jH'rhaps, no plint at present 
 known which is so valuubli' an ngi;iit in 
 nourishing the soil as a good erop of clov.c 
 ploughed in given. If anyone asks why it is 
 so, he is usually met with the answer, "wr 
 know it is so, because it is the result of our 
 experience." Now if we bring chemistry to 
 bear on the nuestion, we find that clover 
 contains a large ]troiK)rtion of an element 
 which is a very important fertilizer of the 
 soil — nitrogen. '1 his element exists in tin 
 noil in eonsiderable ])roportioiis. It is louml 
 in every toil, and it forms as well the great 
 balk of the atmosphere we breathe. In the 
 soil it exists in two .conditions : One form, 
 which is cAlled available nitrogen, is tiiat 
 form in which phnts can take it up readily as 
 foo«l ; while in the other form, known as uu- 
 .-kvailahle nitrogen, it is locked up in the soil 
 and cannot ^c aHsimilated as plant food until 
 it has undergone a change, wliich is usually 
 brotight about in a very gradual manner by 
 the cultivation of the soil and the exposure of 
 <?Tery jMvrt of it to tlie action of the atmos- 
 phere, v,'hich gradually converts the unavail- 
 
 able nitrogen into the available form, and is 
 that way the fertility of the soil is jiartially 
 maintained. It hac l>cen shown by analysis 
 that clover accumulates nitrogen in a largr 
 proportion fr^in some source during its growth. 
 It is not definitely known whether this 
 nitrogen is obt.iined from that which is 
 unavailable to other plants, or from the air ; 
 but it is known that a given weight of clover 
 contains nearly tifty times us much of this 
 valuable element, as the same wi>ight of the 
 wheat plant. Hence, if clover, with its 
 weight of fertility, is ploughed under, it gives 
 to the soil a dressing which will serve for the 
 enriching of several succeeding crops. 
 
 I'NKNOWN STOI'.KS OK MTKOCKN. 
 
 The knowledge of this fact in connection with 
 clover leads to another eonsideration. Clover 
 is only one member of a very large f.iinily of 
 plants which are known to ttotanists as 
 leguminous plants, which iiK'.lude all the 
 lupins. Vetches, tares, k^:.. some of which are 
 natives of tliis country and some of foreign 
 countries. If clover has this quality of storing 
 up nitrogen, other pl.tnls may liave tiie siime 
 and some a sujM.'rior jwwer in that direction, 
 one can at once see that here is a field for 
 exjKrimeiit in a direetioii which would be 
 exceedingly valu.ible to the whole farming 
 community, to siscertaiu which of tin- legn- 
 minous plants, if any, arc iis g(K)d or better 
 than clover for this purpoae. 'I'hcre iiro some 
 native to the North of Europe and many more 
 touiid in iliti'ereiit wctions of this great Do- 
 minion, all oi which should be exp<.'rii'iented 
 with in ordci to ascertain whether they could 
 not be made useful to agiicul'ure, for it has 
 tM>en well said that the pi wer of one plant to 
 store up fi>od fur future crops of other plants 
 lies at the very foumlation of successful agri- 
 culture. Nitorgen is abundant in all animal 
 fertilizers, and it is the j>reseiie,e of that 
 element which gives to these fertilizers their 
 chief value. 
 
 I.\U'OUTANCl, OK I'F.ILMANENT I'ASTI.IIES. 
 
 .\nother ixiiiit which I might u.sc in illustra- 
 tion is the importance to farmers of jv^rmanent 
 pastures for <attlc. It is very uncertain, in 
 view of the immense fertile wheat-growing 
 plains which we have in the North- West, 
 whether fanners in the east will lie able to 
 com{M^te in gniin growing with the farmers of 
 the Prairie I'rovinces. Indeed it is very 
 doubtful if they can. In that case the 
 fanners of tlostern ( 'unada will have to fall 
 biu:k on such lines of agriculture as they can 
 make most proUtable, and one of these is stock 
 raising, rcrmanent pasture may \)e. deGned 
 as a mixture of jwrenuial grasses containing 
 those which will ripen at ditferent period* 
 during the sea.soii. A crop of timothy ripens 
 and is harvested early in the year, after which 
 
 X 
 
there is a loug p(uio«l wluii that field is usdesH 
 for till' j>uriios<' of jiastuic, mul not until 
 '.ho growth is strong ■ iiouj^h, and Iins 
 ^lOily enough to |irovid(! good grazing, 
 would a farmer tliiiik of i>H.sturiiig Ids 
 cattle on it. I»ut in peruiiiiicnt )>a.s- 
 turcs you g<;t a sclpctioii of grasses, whitii 
 ]ive from year to year, some of wliiidi will lipon 
 ' arly in the M'iLson, some in llu; nuddle of the 
 summer, and others later on, so that the cattlr? 
 niay have a suiiie.s.-,ioii ai that sueculeut food 
 whicli they need and have it in 8U(di abundauce 
 as will eiial)le them to put on flesh rapidly. 
 
 I-nOVIDKNOK HAS NoT II.ACKI) AM. TUK GOOD 
 r.KASSKS I.N ANV UNK I'AllT Ui' THIC WlUlI.Ii. 
 
 Most of tlie grasses whioh we have in cul- 
 tivation have come to us fiom various parts of 
 Kjjfrope.', and there are some varieties in oui- own 
 country which are quite as promising, pcriiaps, 
 as some of the Kun.'iHan sorts. In my late 
 journey in the North-West I j>aid .some atten- 
 tion to tlie native gra.s,ses, and found varietie.s 
 there which .si-eni to me to he (juite promising, 
 judging from tlieir habit of growth, and from 
 the fact that cattle show surji a jjiefereiice for 
 them. When brought undi'r cultivation, t'nere 
 may be found among liieni siM'cies quite equal 
 and i>crhaps suix'iior in some respects to tliose 
 at present in use. Tliere are also in the 
 North-West ami in the' Western f'rates, .some 
 varieties whiili are ca|ial)le of staniiing very 
 dry weather, and some others adapted to very 
 cold cliuuites. liy growing judicious ndxtnres 
 of these gra.s.s<'s, we iiope to ascertain tiieir true 
 value. This iuqiortant worli will be carried on 
 extensively at the l2xj>erimontal ]''arm, and 
 the object will be to show which are tlie best 
 varieties, bring them into not: ,e, ami also to 
 take such stej).sas will make them available to 
 farmers. There are a score or moiv diirerent 
 kinds of grasses whicli can lie obtained fiom 
 Beed dealers m Kuiojie and other connlrie?, 
 many of whicli woidd iic exceedingly useful if 
 their valuable qualities were better known. 
 These facts serve to show tliat there are lines 
 of exiMTimental woik whicli at first sight might 
 appear trivial, but are expe<'ted in tiic end to 
 produce results of great importance to the stock 
 iutiR'Bts o' this country. Such experiments 
 cannot be undertaken liy the farmer. ]''ew ol' 
 you could alibrd the tinie or expense required 
 to travel to the Nortii-West and other places 
 iu search of sudi products ; but if this can be 
 done for you, the information obtained for 
 your guidance and the uiaterial uuidc available 
 lor your use ; you must admit that great gootl 
 is likely to i< suit from such work. 
 
 DF.OENKUATION OF HOOTS AND CKKKALS. 
 
 All our cereal.s, root.H and tubers are, to a 
 ereat extent, aitilicial products. You do not 
 tiud wheat, oats or barley growing anywhere 
 in nature, as we have them now 1 You do not 
 
 liiid potntf.es like tho.v in cultivation gif.wiii.ii 
 wild. The potato (jriginated from an insigni- 
 ficnnt wild variety, wlii(di, i>y cultivation and 
 careful liyI>ridization, has Ijeen brought to its 
 jjresent higli standard of excellence. So witli 
 wheat, oats and I'arley, an<l all field crops. 
 These improved plants and roots, good «h they 
 an-, are liable to constant variation and to 
 frequent d« teriomtion — that is, they often 
 "run out." If you n'call the varieties of 
 grain and potatoes which were grown twenty 
 years ago, you will lintl very few of them to- 
 daj'. This jjoints to the importance of con- 
 tinuous experimental work with new varieties 
 of grain and otlier crops, so tliat by tlie fre- 
 quent introtluction (as in tiie ca.se of stock) of 
 new blood there may be imparted to these 
 l>roducts that vigour of growth and fertility of 
 character which will admit of there Iwing 
 cultivated to greater perfection and profit- 
 
 ■WASTKKir. KAr.MINC. 
 
 Our farming during the past has not always 
 been conducted in the most economical manner. 
 Crops have soiiKtimes not been sown with 
 needed promptness, the fertilizers at command 
 have not been made the bcht of, and much 
 land that would liave yielded gooil results haa 
 for Want ol' proper drainage and care lemaiued 
 unproductive to the owner. Loss to the coun- 
 try has also resulted from lack of information 
 regarding the necessity of a jirojier rotation of 
 crojis. Canadian farmers will r<'quire to b« 
 more careful in these ])articulars if they wouhl 
 maintain Im their lountiy in these d.ays of 
 keen competition :ind improvcil apjdiaiu'es 
 that wi'll deserved jire-emiiieiu'e in agrictilture 
 which she has hitlieito enjoyed. I miglit 
 enlarge here indelinitely, but jxrhaps 1 liavti 
 .~aid enough in the lew thuuglits presented to 
 show that there is jtractically no limit to 
 I'xperimeiital work, tlie results of which, when 
 its true ^•Mlue is determined and made known, 
 will be of inestimable conscipience to farmers 
 everywhere ; and v. hen 1 say that the experi- 
 mental larms established by the Dominion 
 Governmi'ut are to take up this class of work 
 especially, and ri'port on it frcciueutly 
 lor the beiielit of the farmers, I think 
 1 have fairly answered tint question, 
 "What good will those farms be to 
 the agriculltnal community V The 
 establishment of so many of these ex- 
 licrimental institutions in KuroiM! led to the 
 consiilcration of the subject iu America, aud 
 about thirteen years ago the f'rst of tiieeo 
 cxperinu'iital stations were established in the 
 State of Connecticut. Since then a number 
 of similar institutions have been started, 
 supported by anniuil grants from the legisla- 
 tures of the dirt'erent States in which they 
 have been located, until the importance of th« 
 subject has so grown on the farmers in the 
 
t- 
 
 I uited States that for a ycnr or two ]>.-uit tliR 
 {(fioplo have been Mgitatiii;^ for more liberal 
 hiipport from the geiitiul Goveruiuoiit for sui li 
 iiiatitutions, and last year Congress jmsscd a 
 bill known as "The Hiktch Bill," which jco- 
 vides for an annual appropriation of nearly 
 1500,000, to be divided amongst the ditl'erent 
 .Statefl, to be devoted entirely to this exp'r- 
 imental work in agriculture, horticulture and 
 loreatry. In the meantime the Canadian Gov- 
 ernment has also b«'en looking after the interest 
 of the farmers. In 1884 tiiey appointed a 
 committee to enquire into this subject, and 
 from the opinions expressed by practical far- 
 nierg, who were called before this committee, 
 the Government were led to consider the 
 exitediency of 
 
 PROVIDIXG EXPERIMENTAI- FARMS FUR 
 CANADA. 
 
 Hur worthy Piemier, Sir Jolm Macdonnld, 
 who always takes the warmest interest in 
 >'verything that tends to the prosperity of 
 tlie agricultural eliissj's, asked Parliament 
 for an appropriation of $20,iilk) towards the 
 purchase of a site for an experimental 
 iarm. In November of that year 1 was 
 requested by the Government to visit the 
 different agricultural stations in the United 
 States ; and also to ascertain by lorres- 
 poudeuce t'.ie working of similar institu- 
 tions ii. Europe, and to prepare a report 
 for the (Jovernment which might give them 
 such additional information as they re- 
 quired in order to roach some conclusion 
 regarding tliis work of experimental agri- 
 culture. I travelled through all tlie Western 
 and Northern States, and visited every 
 agricultural institution located anvwheie 
 near the Canadian Itouudary, and sub- 
 mitted a report of my investigations. The 
 result was the passage of the bill known 
 as "An Act resp'cting Kxiierimental Farm 
 Stations," which provided for the establish- 
 ment of five experimental farms, one of 
 which was to be located near Ottawa, to 
 .serve tlie purposes of Ontario and (Jueber 
 jointly ; one iu the Maritime Provinces, to 
 .serve the [mrposes of those provinces joint- 
 ly ; one in Manitoba; one in the ^orth■ 
 West Territories, and one in British Co- 
 lumbia. 
 
 THK ORJECTS AIMKVt AT 
 
 in establishing those farms might be better 
 presented to you perhaj)s in the wording of 
 the Act itself. The works to be undertaken 
 were as follow : 
 
 (a.) Conduct researches and verify experi- 
 ments designed to test the relative value, for 
 all puqxMes, of 'different breeds of stock, 
 aud their adaptability to the varying climatic 
 or other conditions which prevail in the 
 
 .several jaoviuces aud in the North- West 
 Territories ; 
 
 (b.) Examine into the ccr n« niic questions 
 involved in the production of butter, and 
 clieese ; 
 
 (c.) Test the nierit.', liardinees and adnjit- 
 nliility of new or untried varieties of wheit 
 or other creals, and of field crop?", grass's 
 and forage-idajit.o, fiuits, vegetables, plants 
 and trees, and disseminate among person j 
 engaged in farming, gardening or fiuit grow- 
 ing, ujwn such conditions as are prescribed by 
 tlic Minister, samjiles of the smplus of B«ch 
 ]iroducts as are considered to be specially 
 worthy of introduction ; 
 
 (d.) Analyse fertilizers, whether natural 
 or artificial, and conduct expriments with 
 such fertilizers, in ordiT to test their eom* 
 parative value as ajiplied to crops of different 
 kinds; 
 
 (e.^ Examine into the composition *ni 
 digestibility of i'oods for domestic animals ; 
 
 if.) Conduct experiments in tlie planting of 
 trees for timber and for shelter. 
 
 (g.) Examine into the diseases Id whicli 
 cultivated plants and trees are subject, and 
 also into the ravages of destmctiya insect.s, 
 and ascertain and test the most taeful pre- 
 ventives and remedies to be used in each case ; 
 (li.) Investigate the diseases to which do- 
 mestic animals are suVyect ; 
 
 ^i.) Ascertain the vit;dity and purity of 
 agricultural seeds ; and 
 
 (j.) Conduct any other experiments and 
 researches bearing upon tlie agricultural in. 
 dustiy of Canada, which .w approved by the 
 2»linister. 
 
 It will be seen fioni this category that pio- 
 \ ision is made for exjierimental work in all 
 departments of agriculture in each of the 
 I'lovinces. In order to carry on this work 
 the Act authorized the employment of a 
 director, wlio was to have sup'rvision of all 
 the institutions; of a Horticulturist, who was 
 to take charge of the department of horticul- 
 ture at Ottawa ; of a Uotauistand Entomologi.-.t 
 (the two offices combini'd), and I am happy to 
 .say that Mr. Fletclicr, the gi-utleinau appoint- 
 ed to that imiKirtant branch, is present ami 
 will be able to speak for liimself. It also pro- 
 vided for the appoinlnieiit of a Chemist, whos.i 
 duty it will Vie to analyse fertilizers aud con- 
 duct all chemical ojieiatioiis ; and also for tin- 
 apiKjiiitmeiit of an Agriculturist who .shall br 
 specially charged with the management of tin; 
 field cro|« and stock. When the site for the 
 Central Experimental Farm was located, pos- 
 session of it was not secured until November 
 of last year — too late to accomplish much, but 
 there was fouml time to plough about 20 acres 
 and gather up some loose stones that were 
 scattered over the ground. Winter then set 
 in and put a stop to all out-door *ork until 
 
 y^ 
 
8 
 
 the spring, lu thr mcniitiin<* a smuil buiMing 
 WM erected for an office ami a glass gtructun- 
 'in which 
 
 TO TEST TIIK vr.Al.lTY OK SKKDS, 
 
 which was oun of tin; works the A('t pr<- 
 Mribed should Ik; uiidertiiken. This work 
 tprM successfully rarried ou last winter, and 
 187 samples of wheat and oilier cereals, gi-a-w 
 Meds and other field crops, were sent iu to 
 the institution to be tested. The vitality of 
 'these were determined and the prcentnge 
 that would grow under favourable conditions 
 reported to the firuieis sending them as 
 promptly ax pos«iljli'. That di'partment of work 
 Aas been of uiucli priiciicid value, iis will be 
 •eeo from the bulletin that will be i.ssued from 
 the farm vi-ry slioitly, giving details of this 
 work. It resulti'd in tarmers being saved, in 
 many instaiicts, fiom sowing seed which 
 y?ould have giviii tluin very little return for 
 tlieir lal»o>ir. In the harvi'sting of grain it 
 •ometimes iuipiuns that iiftcr it has l»een cut 
 and put in the mow it will heat and its 
 titttlity as seed will be injured ; there are 
 «ther causes also which may oci:ur which 
 BO affect seed grain as to make its germination 
 Diore or Irss a matter of uncertainty. The 
 Exp«-riuient;il Fiirm oilers to any farmer in tiir 
 l^omintiiii till' advantages of sending in, free 
 <.( pti-^t.igi', Siimplis of seeii to be testeil in tlie 
 soil and also in another form, in duplicat. , 
 <>ii'i t"st beiiiir a I'hec^k on the other, and re- 
 turns are iijiidf to fill' fainiers without any 
 chiirge or exp( use, I hope that the gentlemen 
 imseiit, uill all <i! th'Mii avail themselves of 
 the a(l\-,int;i;,'»'s fill rul in this ileiiartmeiit of 
 •our wviikas Imly hs they think tit. We 
 shall not couiplain of any number ()f samples 
 being sent, muI shall endeavour to meet any 
 leqnisition that may lie made on us in this 
 respect. Hn-d testing has alreay begun, and 
 we should like to have siimjdes sent in as 
 early us possible, so that there may not be too 
 mueh of a riisli ns seed time apjiroaches. It 
 pometimes t;<kes n fortnight or three weeks to 
 ]'roi»erly test tlie germinating jiower of some 
 Weds. 
 
 I AKi V i;irr..MN(; m'ukai'. 
 
 Another matter undertaken during the 
 j'lvst winter Wiis the importation from 
 Northeiii ii'unsi.t of an early ripening wheat. 
 Farmers in some i)arts of the North- West 
 have suli' red several years, sonift seasons 
 much woise than others, from frozen wheat, 
 and it was believed that if a variety of wheat 
 could U' obtiiineil that would rijien a week 
 earlier than imy sort at present available it 
 would result in most instances in the saving 
 of the crop. While frozen wheat has some 
 ralue still the saving of the crop from frost 
 would make a dillerence to the farmers of 
 between .''■iiels., and about '25ot8. jter bushel. 
 
 The new seed wheat was obtained ftwn a 
 district in Russia, flOO miles north of wh«r^ 
 we are to-day, and whero the stoson is BMieh 
 shorter than" in any of the settled pArtioM of 
 our North- West Territories. Tids wheat has 
 ripened from ten to fifleeii days 'earlier than 
 any other variety of wheat cultivated there. 
 It has shown great vitality, and is belieired to 
 be nearly, if not quite equal, in every mpeet, 
 to any other sort in cultivation. In Ontario 
 and Quebec it has not snoceedod so w«ll on 
 account of the dry season we have had. In 
 con.soquence of its early ripening quality it 
 has not had quite the chance that l*ter ripen- 
 ing varities have h.ad, and hence the grain is 
 somewhat shrivelled, but in the Maritime 
 rrovinceg, where they have had more moisture, 
 it has turned out very well, so that we have 
 every reason to believe that tin; introduction 
 of this Kussian wheat will be exceedingly 
 valuable to the Dominion. We also obtained 
 seed of many other varieties of wheat, barley, 
 oats and potatoes, to be tested at the t'entral 
 K.xperimental Farm. A large part of the 
 larni was iu rather rough condition at the 
 outset. Much of it had been occupiwl by 
 tenants for a number of years, and there was a 
 large amount of stone on the surface. There 
 was also some forty acres of swamp on the 
 back part of it. The greater pait of the land 
 was good, but required mm h work to get it 
 into proper order. The removal of stones and 
 internal fene'es was pronif'tly undertaken, but 
 by the time the lind was got in order it was 
 too late to do very much in the way of seeding. 
 
 THIS season's tests. 
 Ilowi'ver, ve have tested during the year quite 
 a number of varieties of grain, among the 
 rest i>7 varieties of spring wheat, 31 of Imrley, 
 60 of oats, and •24(> varieties of potatoes. On 
 iiccount of the hot, drj' season being unfavour- 
 able for grain and jiotatoes, \. have not 
 obtained such good results iis we otherwise 
 should have done ; but we have succeeded 
 with a considerable number of varieties in 
 obtaining very fair crops, and shall have from 
 the bnuul (Quantities begun with a sutnciency 
 of seed to test those varieties under more 
 favourable conditions another year. 
 
 CI.EAKING, DKAININC; ANU III.II.DI.VG. 
 
 There were on the Kxperimentnl Farm about 
 140 acres of land which was covered with 
 pine stumps, amongst which there was a 
 strong second growth of popular and birch. 
 This land has all been reclaimed by blowing 
 up the stumps with dynamite, and rooting up 
 the poplars, and it is all now ploughed and 
 ready for cultivation. The f\irm has also been 
 fenced and got into such shape that 'good 
 results may be expected another year. There 
 will be room enough in the area acquired — 
 4t)5 acres — to test all the varieties of prodnt* 
 
9 
 
 10 whiirh refcreiire hiw been made. The forty 
 «tcreii of Bwamp huvt; lircn drained, and bams 
 and stables are being erected for the aocom- 
 ■lodation of stock and horwH. Theae bnild- 
 JDgH will be completed in the course of a few 
 wwks and will he large enongli to accnmnio- 
 date about 75 head of stock and aBufficieiit 
 notnber of horHes for the farm work, ho that 
 the fonndatiuii will be laid for ojKirations in 
 this direction another year. Dwellings arc 
 ^ing erected aluo for the superintendents of 
 the different departments, so that they can 
 reside on the place and devote their whole 
 time to the work. Plans have been prejiared 
 lor a laboratory and a museum of the products 
 of the farms for the l)enetit and instruction of 
 visiting furnii-rs, and ofiiccs will be provided 
 in the same building for the tran.-wction of 
 business. 
 
 A KEVUKSKNTATIVK ( I.I.MATK. 
 
 Ottawa may l)e said to Ikj fairly Djiresiuta- 
 tive in cliinatf of a large area in the two 
 provinces of Ontario .d Quebec ; hence it is 
 impfjrtiiiit to dcti.ii.li;!!! there not only what 
 eereal.s and farm crops can be ra'sed, but also 
 what VI I ties of fruit can be produced, as 
 fruit tn'cs are generally taken by strangcm 
 and vihitors us an indication of tiie character 
 ©f the climate prevailing in the district, aul 
 are .ipprcciated much more readily tlian 
 oropb ol grain or roots would be. It is al.so 
 im|)ortant tliat the (leoplc in cvry district 
 thouhl be aide to grow their own fruit, und 
 thereby adtl not only to the attractiveness of 
 their liouies and surroundings, but also to the 
 jirofits attending I'arni work. The im])ression 
 has prevailed that the (tttawa district is not 
 a good fruit gnwing section ; but I think it is 
 ouite pcssible and wholly probable that 
 varieties of fruit can be introduced which will 
 1)6 found exceedingly useful aiut verj' profit- 
 able to cultivate. On the farm there have 
 l)een planted, nmicr the direction of the horti- 
 culturist, W. W. Hilborn, 1,000 npple trees, 
 including 21)7 ditlereut varieties, '2!t8 pears, 
 <>f 114 varieties : 197 plums, of 7"2 varieties; 
 
 11 varieties of jieachcs; 4 of apricots and 27 
 of crab apples. In small fruits also a great 
 deal has been done. The planting includes 
 127 varieties of grapes, 90 of strdwberries, 37 
 of raspbeiTies, 21 of blackberries and 16 f)f 
 f arrants, K-sides which there are a number of 
 new seedlings being tested. We do not 
 f^tpect or hoj)e that all those varieties will be 
 nsefnl, but it is expected that among them 
 will be found some of superior excellence 
 which will be adapted to the needs of the 
 community here, as well as some fitted equally 
 well for other climates of the Dominion. As 
 to the botanical and entomological depart- 
 ments of the work, the officer iu charge of 
 Jhem (Mr. Fletcher) is he!c and will speak for 
 
 himself. A skilful chemist, Mr. F. T. Shntt, 
 has been iipj)ointed, wlio will undertake tb« 
 analysis of .soils, crops, grasses, etc.; also tlie 
 analysis ot mlik from the different breeds of 
 cattle, and such other chemical work as may 
 be uec'led. 
 
 A POlILTUY I»l.rAUTME.NT. 
 
 It is also propo«e<l to establish a iiOuUrT 
 department. The development of the poultry 
 interest in Canada has been very ra{)id, and 
 the exitorts of jwultry jtroilucts now foot np a 
 sum that is aatonishing. They exceed in 
 amount our exports ot honu a, and it hax 
 become a subject of such imp»)rtance that it i-i 
 thought necessary that soi>ie cx{M-rimcnts in 
 that line shouhi lie carried on to determine 
 the relative value o. dillerent breeds and 
 
 crosses for the producti if eggs and dressed 
 poultry for the marke; ,. Kncugh has Iwen 
 said, 1 ho}K', to shov the inijicrtance of this 
 great undcrtak' i for -J.: bene*- and mi 
 .'.nceujent of Uf,.icullure. iu • li.cli bcth th* 
 Premier auti tiiC MinisUi '1 Agriculture Uike 
 «o warm an inter'-at. No effort will Ix- 
 spared to m.ike '>.'.. -m institutions a success, 
 and they will, i trust, 8tan<l as ]>ermanent 
 proofs of the wistlom an 1 forethought of our 
 great state.snien the Ivemier, and the Hon. 
 the Minister ■ f Agriculture, aim .onfer 
 lasting heiietits an the faruieis of Canada. 
 (Applause). 
 
 Mr. Konell— I would like to nsk Pro'.. 
 Saunders if the soil absorbs the nitrogen 
 cout.uncd in the sei-ond g''\\th of clover 
 that is allowed to remain on the ground and 
 rot ? 
 
 Prof. Saunders — 1 shoidd scarcely expect 
 that that jmrtion «( the nitrogen which i-t 
 contained in the foliage of the plant would Ix; 
 so well preserved to the soil when it is 
 allowed to remain on the surface, as when 
 ploughed under ; but the analysis of the 
 roots of clover shows tiiat a mu( h larger 
 proportion nf nitiogen exists in the roots 
 than in the leaves ; so that the fact of the 
 clover growing there would enrich the soil, 
 anil .some portion of the nitrogen iu the 
 h-aves, by the process of decay, would eventually 
 become iui orj)orated with the soil and act as a 
 fertilizer. 
 
 Mr. Darling— At what state in the growth of 
 the plant would the most benefit be derived 
 by j.i.;Ughiiig it under? 
 
 Prof. Saunders— Plants arc always richest 
 in their constituents ab<mt the flowering 
 period. It might sometimes be considered 
 too great a sacrifice of the crop to plough it 
 under when fit to cut for hay ; but that is the 
 time when the ploughing of it would be of 
 the greatest benefit to the soil. 
 
 Mr. Moffat—Have you yet undertaken 
 any experiments to determine the best 
 
10 
 
 liri'ods of cattl'- for dairyiii;; purposes in 
 ( 'aiiadit ' 
 
 I'rof. SiiumliTs — Not yet: we are wailing 
 until tiie ni-cessaiy V) iilcUn<,'s arc put up, 
 when it in intended to undertake, us fast as 
 jitacticiililc, ttiose Jillcrent dipartineut.s ol' 
 work. Tliose wliirli seem to tlie Minister to 
 l>e most pressing will, of course, lir the first 
 undertaken. It will be iinpus.siljle to under- 
 take every department at the outset, as there 
 are five dillerent laruis to be established and 
 organized. 
 
 ■ iijiert and I'lnnl PHrnHilc!(. 
 
 Mr. F'LKTCHKR was next called upon to 
 address the Institute. He said : It is a great 
 pleasure to one who makes a special study ot 
 any particular branch of knowledge, whieh 
 he considers is of use to the cimimunity at 
 large, to have the privilege of addressing 
 such a niecting as this. Those who take the 
 trouble to atteiul these meetings are the men 
 who take the most interest in the work with 
 which such institutes as yours are concerned, 
 and, therefore, though the attendance may 
 sometimes be small it must always be cou- 
 oe<led that those who come i'e[)resent the 
 best class r)f your members and are the ones 
 who will derive most beuelit from such uu;et- 
 ings. Prof. Saunders has told you tliat 
 lie hoped to get soni(> information 
 from you tiiat would bo useful in his work 
 at the Experimental l'"arni. This is no less 
 the case with me in tlu; ib-partnu^nts wiiieli 
 liave been placed under my charge at Ot- 
 tawa, and I hope I may be able to show yo>» 
 tliat it will be to your advantage to assist 
 me. He has told you tliat I am the Knto- 
 uiologist ami ilotauist of the institution. It 
 i.5 true this is my title, ;i-.id these are tine 
 soumling woids, but they are not easily enough 
 understood by everyboily, so when I am 
 iiskcd what my w<)rk is, I answer — to study 
 injurious insects and plants and the best 
 remedies to keep them down. As you all 
 know, a very large [)roportion of your ei-ops 
 is taken away from you, year by year, 
 by insects ; there is also a large auMunt 
 deatroyed annually by injurious plants, 
 
 TIIK t^VTOMOLOCIf-T AM) HDTAMST. 
 
 I will now with your permission give you 
 some idea of the work it is proposed to 
 carry out in my departments at the (Jentral 
 lixperimental Farm at Ottawa. There ai'c 
 two kinds of injuries to crops, which as Kn- 
 tomologist and liotanist 1 shall have to cou 
 /iidcr, namely, those diseases of plants due 
 to insect'* and those due to vegetable para- 
 sites. I belie' e it is possible that in rela 
 tion to tluuu the work ot the division may 
 Ihj made of great use to the country at 
 Urge. I have undertaken it w ith a great 
 do&l of enthusiasm, believing that luucli 
 good will come of it, and I shall do my Ix'st 
 
 to make this branch of our evperiinentai 
 work succeed ; but I shall look to the far- 
 mers for assistance. In a, vast territory 
 like Canada it is impo.ssible that any one 
 man can take in the whole Held of observa 
 tion alone. It is possible, however, if that 
 one man gives all his attention to the work 
 and he is assiyti-d by correspondents in the 
 ditleient provinces that his studies may bring 
 about results of general benefit to the whole 
 Dominion. It is in the hands of every 
 farmer who is a practical observer and who 
 grows his crops with all his mentiil energies 
 directed towards their improvement to aiil 
 by sending in the result of his ob.serva- 
 tions. It ha.-i been said that t!ie ordinary 
 farmer is unable to assist in these scientitii- 
 studies. riiis is not the case. A very 
 small fact is of value if it is the result ot 
 what tiie farmer has actually seen take 
 place on his farm, u tiue record of that 
 one "fact is of itself important, and wheiv 
 added to the oliservations of others may 
 till a missing link in our knowledge on 
 any triven subject, and is, therefore, ot 
 great use to science, for science is simply a 
 word tluit is used for "the best knowledge." 
 It is a woid tliat is apt to frighten people, 
 but it is only the Latin word for knowing or 
 knowledge. Tiicn if you will help by send- 
 ing in any .small facts that come under your 
 notice th'-y w ill be an assistance to other 
 farnieis all nvi'v the country, for they will be 
 incorpc)rated in reportsaiul will be distributed 
 far and wide ail dvcv the Dominion. Ar 
 raugeiiients lia\e i)een made by which tlii.s 
 intercourse can be facilitateil with the least 
 ))ossible trouble and expense to farmers. 
 When crops show signs of disease it is of 
 great importance to rliscover the nature of 
 the injuiies and sec whether they are ot 
 insect or vegetal)le origin. If anyone 
 tiuds his cr(1]is attacked in any way, anil he 
 will send specimens of the plants attacked — 
 this can bt; done free of postage -in most 
 cases information respecting the trouble 
 will be obtainable from the Kx])ei imenta! 
 Farm at t)ttawa. Ivlorts will be mady to 
 have this institution rjjogni/.ed as a 
 
 r.l'KKAI' 111' INK(tKMATION 
 
 to which any tanner who desires infoimation 
 concerning aL'ricultural matters can write. 
 It is hardly likely that the diiector 
 will have time to attend to all these him- 
 self; but he will hand the letter to who- 
 ever the ollicer may be in charge of the 
 special department iiupiired into, and the 
 desire of the director is, as ho has told you, 
 that farmers should not hesitate to write to 
 him for any inforinati(m whatever concern- 
 ing their farming operations. Those in- 
 (juiries reouiring information concerning in- 
 sects or plants, will come to ine, and I shall 
 
11 
 
 iitteuil 10 them at once, iiml shall eiiiicuvDUi- 
 to give you as imicii iiifoi-ination as |K).sbiliic. 
 As well aa letters, ynu ciiii Meiul .'■aniples to 
 t >ttAwa to our lieiulijuarters to l»e exiiiii- 
 iiiojaaitl reported iii)oii free of cliai-j^e. This 
 is &a iiiiportuut atlvuntaujt- Co you. Fie- 
 'lueiitly 
 
 KARMKRS I,IVIN<; AT A HIsTANCE 
 
 Ii'om town have no postage stamps on liaiul, 
 and they may say "I will let this stand un- 
 til I go to town wlien 1 oan take it in and 
 have it posted,"' but in these cases it is fre- 
 quently forpotten until too late. They need 
 not delay on that auoouut ; they have only 
 to take their samples to the post-olfice in 
 proper packages, throw them in, and they 
 will he at one<; forwarded free of jiostage. 
 and the answer will come l)aek as ijuickly 
 as posaihle. There is no doul»t at all that a 
 report on tlie dilVerent kinds of injuries from 
 in!seot.H and j)arasitic plants is very advan- 
 tageous U) all farmers to read r.nd study, 
 ll a farmer knows that a certain injury is 
 going on in one part (if the fountry--either 
 tlie attack of an insect oi a fungous disease, 
 he will ktH'p his eyes open to aseeitain 
 what remedy is discovered, in case he re 
 ceives a visit from the unwelcome stranger ; 
 for although all these studies are 
 (jf great interest in themselves they are of 
 very little use to the country if we do not 
 tind remedies for the attacks. Tins is our 
 chief aim. We lio]>e hy getting men 
 who devote all tlieir time to these 
 huhjects, .study hard and work tliem 
 out fioni the l)eginning, to tind r(Mne- 
 dies for nil these diseases. There are a great 
 many for which lemedics have not yet l>een 
 found ; Inil on the other liaml a good deal of 
 work has hcen done by scientitic nu'n 
 with good results although they do not always 
 get the credit of it. What farmer, when he 
 buys five cents' wortli of Paris green anil 
 .-avea his potato crop, thinks of the men 
 wiio spent years in hunting for a sure and 
 ' lieap remedy forkillingthe potato bugs.' \'et 
 we coidd not attempt to-day to grow a crop 
 of potatoes in some parts of t'amida without 
 Paris green any more tlian we could witlujut 
 manure. 
 
 IN.U'RIOUS tN.SK(T.s. 
 
 Let nie now say a few v-ni'ds with regard 
 to the injuries couunitteii ev"ry yeai' by 
 insects. These ai'e so enormous and so well 
 known tluit probably no one here will chal- 
 lenge the proi)riety of the <iovernment hav- 
 ing appointed nomeoue to devott; his whole 
 tiipe to the study of the best means of 
 keeping their ravages within bounds. 1 will 
 give you a few (ii'urea which have been care 
 fully verified as tt) the extent to which these 
 iujuriea may reach. In tlie first place, it 
 may be stated generally that 10 per cent, of 
 all crops grown is annually destroyed by 
 insects. Krequently, liowever, this propor 
 
 tion is fai' exceeded. In iSS'J one of .ie/ii<ii 
 kinds of insects which attack the hop in 
 Kngland reduced the crop by the viiue 
 of S;l.'{,*X»*»,<XH). In the is;} report of tUe 
 L'nited States C'omniissii)ncr of .Vgriculture 
 it is stated that the loss on the c >tt<>u 
 crop by insects is about .'?*jr»,(HK),l)tH) a yeAr. 
 In ISTII the money value of wheat and corn 
 destroyed in the .state of Illinois by one in- 
 sect called the chinch bug was ft'Tfl.tHJO.'M). 
 No wonder tiien that there is consternation 
 at the present time in that .State where ttii** 
 insect has again appeared in numbers. Ti> 
 conie nearer home, in \H')4 the wheat tnid *e. 
 destroyed in (anaila S,()tM>,()<H) bushels of 
 wiieat. It ijecomes a necessity tiien th.it 
 someone should ik- appointed to investigate 
 these subjects and tr\' if ])os.-.ible to find 
 practical remedies which fainiers can *p- 
 l)ly for themselves. I have stated that t-ni 
 per cent, of all ci'ops is destroyed by tUe«e 
 peats. I ljelic\ e 1 ndght withrait exaggera- 
 tion say twice this amount, i>ut it is bebtei 
 to be under than licyond the mark. You 
 may say, "This is all \ery tine your telliug 
 us alM)ut these losses liy insects— have you 
 any i-emedy— -can you gi\e us any iiopc of 
 relief from their' ravages ? I answer, yiss; 
 certainly I can if you will help me. I be- 
 lieve that all tiiese in.sects, wiien tlieir life- 
 histories are .studied out and their habits 
 ascertaineil, i an be kept down in a very 
 large degree, bet nie give you one instacicd 
 which I have frequently citeil before, he- 
 cause it is taken fioin tiie practical work of 
 ])ractical men. If you \,ill take the trouble 
 to look up the last census you will see thac 
 the revenue iroiu one small crop -the clovot 
 seeil I'll)]) was half a million dollars at the 
 time the census was taken. Three v^-irs 
 ago the revenue from tiiat crop was reduced 
 to nothijig. There was not a grain or clovtn ■ 
 .seed exported, and why '.' liecauso a little 
 tly, so small that it would lie on 
 the head of a pin, had gra<iu,^lly 
 worked its way up from the l^nitJii 
 States ami had got into our chiver lieldi and 
 attacked tl.cni so severely that there w*s 
 no crop to reap. People i)egan to give up 
 growing closer seed. Final ly the farmers 
 juit their heads together and coiLSulted witii 
 those who studied insects, and said, "here 
 is a great trouble coming upon us, an<i we 
 must have some remedy." "Well," said the 
 ttiitomologistH, "let us look into the matter 
 and find <nit what is the nature of thciuiiect, 
 and what is its life history, and tiiea per 
 haps we can lind a remed.y." Now, 1 wil' 
 loeiitiijii hero what perhap.s some of you 
 know, before insects attain their perfect 
 development they ])asH through four stagtm. 
 \N'hen wt; talk of the borer in the apple trw 
 to a man who knows notiiing of the lives >f 
 insects and say, "you must ]>ut something 
 obnoxious on tlie hark of your tree at tin* 
 
13 
 
 time tho eggs arr- laid to keep the beetle 
 away :" such a one would say, "this is not 
 a beetle, it is a soft grub." This is true: 
 but it was not always a soft grub, nor will it 
 always remain so. All insect* go through 
 four distinct stages of existence : Fii'St, 
 there is the little egtr, which is laid by the 
 mother insect ; this hatches into a soft gnd)- 
 like, active insect which passes its life eat- 
 ing, until it is full grown ; from this it 
 changes into what we call the chrysalis 
 state, in wliich it has generally the limbs of 
 the perfect insect apparent, but in most 
 orders of insects lies ijuiet and cannot use 
 them ; from this chrysalis, after a time, 
 emerges the perfect insect. Now. let us 
 apply this life history to the clover seed 
 midge : The faiim-r wanted to know how 
 to stop the riiva;,'es of the midge. So he set 
 to work to find out its life-history. He ex- 
 amine<l the heads of clover seeds, rubbed 
 them up in his h.inds, and found that the 
 pod wliich Fhiiuld have hold the clover seed 
 wii,'» all right in appearance ; but on opening 
 it, instead of a seed, there was a little red 
 grub inside. Ifow did it get there? 
 I will teil you : Let us start 
 in the middle of June when wc shall 
 tind the grub in the seed. We put the head 
 of seed into a glass jar and Mat(^li to see 
 what haj)pen.s. Towards tlui end of the 
 month— reineiiiber that date the little grub 
 works its way out of the clover and falls t(i 
 the ground ; here it burrows down below tnr 
 surface aiul remains there for some wei-ks. 
 The fai-mer who knows nothing of insects 
 cuts his clover about the beginning of July, 
 and is surprised to find no seed. Me thinks, 
 however, he may have better luck with the 
 •second crop ; Imt just about the time this is 
 in flower the little grubs which had gone into 
 the ground in June have matnred, and the 
 perfect insects tiny midires ap|)car. These 
 U'.gin operations at once, and the femahis 
 lay a single egg in each clover llower, which 
 hatclies and the young worm works its way 
 down into the pod, and before it is futl 
 grown has consumed the whole contents. 
 Now, how are we to stop it? Simply by 
 getting the clover off the fields before the 
 eml of ,Iune. It was found by experience 
 that by cutting the clover before the 
 the first brood came to maturity, or 
 turning in cattle to feed cm it, a large num 
 lH;r of these insects wtwj destrtjycd, and 
 there were conscfjuently few left to lay 
 ■eggs in the second crop. So the farmeis in 
 the west where they grow clover seed, now 
 reap only one crop where they fornu'rly 
 grow two in a season. They either cut 
 their clover soon after the middle of Jane or 
 turn in their catth- to eat it so that it may 
 not stand in the fields till the end of the 
 month ; because if they waiteii until tlien, 
 the little insects would have come 
 
 out of the clover and gone into 
 the grouml, whence they would emertft 
 in due time to attack the next crop. By 
 persevering in this course the farmers have 
 gradually thinned out this pest, and will, 1 
 believe, eventually get rid of it altogether. 
 Another l)enefit which has come from the 
 study of entomologists must be mentione«l, 
 nanjely, the use of Paris green as an insee- 
 ticide. This was not discovered by accident; 
 it was the result of direct study in seeking 
 for a remedy for the potato bug. During 
 the liist few years 
 
 THK J'OTATO BfCJ 
 
 has increasert so much that we now have to 
 use this remedy, as a matter of course. It is 
 not known by all farmers that the remedy is 
 perfectly harmless when applied to this 
 crop. I nuike this statement because there 
 is in some sections a wrong impression alwoli 
 it it is stated that the potatoes absorb it ; 
 now, it is ntttily impossible to poiscm the 
 jiotatoes by putting arsenic, which is the 
 poisonous principle of Paris green, on the 
 soil. The potato tuber is merely a receiver 
 of food for the nourishment of young plants, 
 which arc represented by the eyes. It is not 
 a root, but a swelling in an underground 
 stem, and tln^ eyes are buds. It is provided 
 by nature as a reservoir of special food for 
 the young plants in the follo^^ing year. 
 Very little of this nourishment came in 
 through the roots. The largest amount of 
 substance, the starch, that is stored up 
 in tiic tuber of the j)otato, was 
 taken in an elenumtary eonilition through 
 the leaves. It is perfectly absurd then to 
 talk of arsei\ic being taken up in the roots 
 and stored it\ the tuber of the potato plant. 
 Spraying with a weak mixture (only two 
 ounces in 4() giillous of water) of this 
 material has been discovered to be the iMWt 
 remc "ly for the injurious codling moth which 
 destroys our apples. This insect is so injuri- 
 ous that in some years it destroys as much 
 as K(> per cent, ot the whole crop. By the uae 
 of this remedy it has been found that T-") pe.r 
 cent, of the whole crop can Im; saved every 
 year. I believi that if it were applied gen- 
 erally over large areon we could eventually 
 get rid of the codling moth altogothor. 
 More men are studying this economic aspect 
 of insect life year by year, and we are 
 gradually beeomir<; able to keep in check 
 most of the \v()r8t insect enemies with which 
 the farmer luvs to contend. But there are 
 still a preat many of these luists which are 
 doing an enormous amount of injury, and for 
 which we have not yet found practioable 
 remedies. These it will l)e my duty to stndy 
 for this purpose. There is me of these 
 which attacks the wheat crop, ccmucrning 
 whi<!h I wish to enouire particularly. It b 
 called the wheat milb worm, and has ap- 
 
13 
 
 peared lately in this district. The iiulica- 
 tion of its attack ia probably known in your 
 district as " silver top." The ap- 
 pearance of the disease is this. The young 
 ear of wheat turns white permaturely before 
 the rest of the crop is ripe, and when you 
 pluck it you will find there are no 
 grains in it. If you will examine 
 it carefully, you w ill find that there is a 
 very small transparent maggot inside the 
 stem above the top joint. \ ou will notice 
 fit once these dead ears of w heat in fields 
 where this pest is at work. I fear, too, 
 there is now no doul»t l)ut that it has been 
 increasing in numbers during the last year or 
 two. It is a very dithcult insect to cond>at, 
 from the fact that ii /natures and leaves the 
 wheat stem before tlie main crop is tit to 
 cut ; couseiiuently it has escaped and is ready 
 to lay its eggs for the next crop. There is a 
 little gap in our knowledge of the life-hiatoiy 
 of this insect. We know that it passes 
 through two difl'ereut circles of lifi'. First 
 of all itexist.s in the fir.st brood in the straw 
 of standing wheat ; then there is a long gap 
 Ijetween that time, from about the beginniug 
 of .July until September, during which we 
 know nothing of its hal>its, but we rind that 
 in September the perfect )ly appears again 
 and lays its eggs on the sprouting 
 fall wheat, and the little maggots eat their 
 way down to the base of the siem of wheat, 
 from which it ia called the "wheat bulb 
 worm," and remain there all winter in 
 the root of the wheat, just iv the same way 
 as the insect which you all know too well, 
 the "Hessian lly," wliich also passes the 
 winter in tlie root of the wheat. Tiiere is 
 then a gap between the .sumnier and the 
 autumn broods, which I want to find out 
 something about. Very 
 
 KKW INSKITS ARK l.ONC I.IVKH. 
 
 This insect luis a loni? life for so small a lly 
 —not a (juarter of an incl; in length. Some 
 that I enclosed in ghisa jars lived for three 
 weeks without any food iit all. This proves 
 that it can live a long lime, but it is 
 hardly po8sii)le that it can live in 
 the wiiig(5d state tf)r two or three 
 montlis iu summer. We know that the 
 maggot lives tlirough the winter in the 
 wheat plant, and I think it is possible that it 
 attacks some of our w ild grasses and that an 
 intermediate brood lives in them during the 
 period of which we liave no trace of its 
 uabits. This is one of the pests for whicli 
 wo are anxious to find a remedy, and in 
 which you can all help me. One of my 
 correspondents reported that one in every 
 thirty heads of his wheat was destroyed 
 by this insect last summer. Now there 
 are certain broad general principles for 
 your guidance wiicn you find your crops 
 »tta<'ked, and these are founded upon very 
 
 simple rules. Iu the lirst place, if you 
 examine a largo number of diilerent insects 
 you will find they may all be <livided into 
 two large divisions by the nature of theii 
 mouth parts. In one these will \>e found to 
 consist chietly of a pair of jaws with which 
 they tear the substance of their food ; in the 
 other there is, instead, a tube by meiins ot 
 which the insects suck up their food in thf 
 shape of licjuids. For the first class it is 
 apparent that any poisonous substauoe 
 placed on the food will be consumed with it 
 and the insects ilestroyed. It is, then, 
 merely a matter of getting some material 
 not injurious to the plant, but which will 
 kill the insects preying upon it. Such we 
 have in various conipouiids of arseuic, as 
 I'ai'is green and London pu;i>le. For the 
 other class, which coultl pusii their l>euk:i 
 through the poison and tlien suck out the 
 juices from the plant beneath, we must have 
 recourse to other melhod.s, .such as those 
 which will kill by coming into contact with 
 the bodies of tlie insects or by virtue of some 
 noxious volatile principle. One of these we 
 have in Persian insect powder. Of all the 
 numerous iiusects whicii attack vegetati< n 
 and some plant.s ivie attacked by as many as 
 '200 (litl'ei'ent kimls, I suppose tliere is not one 
 for wliich a remedy of some sort could not 
 be devised ; but the trouble is we must 
 find remedies which arc practicable, such 
 as while they attain the object ainied at 
 are yet of such a character as not to lay u.i 
 open to tile accusation that the remedy in 
 worse tl.an the disease. There are 
 
 TIIKK.K Snill.K Kri,K.< KOK TIIK A riT.II'ATION 
 
 OK Ai.], I^■.s^;(:T ukmkimks. 
 First, they must be efl'cctual; secondly, 
 they must be economical ; thirdly, they 
 nmst be simple. Most of the siibstanccH 
 used are direct poisons and many of them 
 arc coptly. The remedies suggested must 
 be devised with special regard to these 
 points p; they will be useless, and, sim 
 plioity is a most impoitaiit feature, for if 
 they re(|uire much care in tl\eir application 
 or preparation not oidy may they not Ix? 
 uscii in tlu' right proportions, but tiny will 
 probably not bo used at all. 
 lleniedies may be divided into thr«H; 
 classes; first and most ini[)ortant~l, agri- 
 cultural, by which is meant t.uch methods 
 lus, a judicious rotation of cro))s ; planting 
 and reaping at a ditl'erent time to that 
 tisually adopted ; the selection of seed less 
 liable to attack ; the use of sjieiial fertilizers 
 and the alluring to a mort^ att'aetive fowl 
 plant. '2. Active, by which poisonous ma 
 terials are used to destroy insects, r.^l .'{, 
 I'reventive, by w Iiich they are deterred from 
 approaching the i)Unt8 wished to be protect 
 od. This is most c-iisily accomplished by 
 the UBo of olinoxious materials to prevent 
 the females from laying their e;rg:< where the 
 
14 
 
 yoii.'ig grubs can do iiiisiiiicf, Alk.'Uiiic 
 wa.«heH on tre<'3 iiml ■•arliolic wiishes for tlic 
 pr(V ition of mot iTops come unthT thin 
 iicftd. For fiirtlier iletails on this snlijcct, 1 
 will rpqiK'st any of you who wish to obtain 
 th<'rf) to write to nie at Ottawa. 
 
 tauvsitk; rj,ANTs. 
 
 Tr.e largo annual loss to crops is not how 
 evtr entirely dm; to insects, there are also 
 rrjprosofipi.' fungous diseases which destroy 
 cropH. l'erhay)s one of the most injurious of 
 th*-ye on record wii.s one that attaiked the 
 ■f'fTee crop of Cej'lon. In the ten years, ]S(!!( 
 to JH7n, .*iM>.(HM).(MK» of injury was done 
 l>y tids one variety of parasitic fungus. 
 \Ve also know that our wheat is aj)! to be 
 attfitked by "rust" and ''smut." These 
 M.gain are j)arasitic fungi, and altliough we 
 hav< not yet found any practical remedy for 
 iiict I am in ho[)es we may l:)e able to do so. 
 Her smut, however, we have a very easily 
 .tpplied remedy which is ettitiacious. It has 
 been known for upwards of '2(K) years that 
 by w:v8hing seed wheat with a solution 
 'if lihiestone the j)laiits froni seed so treated 
 are more exempt from the attacks of this 
 low forrn of vegetable life rhan wheat 
 sewn without such treatment. In F<]ng- 
 land the farmers seldom sow wheat 
 •without first waslung it with blue- 
 •*t<inp, and tlie conse(iuence is that smut is 
 T^(>t .«t all prevalent in the wheat fields of 
 ''>ngland. Now, what steps should be taken 
 by farmers wlien they rind their crops at- 
 tacked iiy disease ? First of all they sh(nil<l 
 «^xainine tliem carefully to rinil out whether 
 it if (in attack of a fungus or of an insect. 
 For luntd it is more difficult to rind a remedy 
 that can be ajiplied at once, but st^ps can 
 be taken to pi-event in the following year a 
 repetition of the evil. No sane person will 
 reside in :v locality whicli ho knows is in- 
 fest'Cd Viy any contagious disease. In the 
 Kaine way it is very foolish for us to plant 
 gtxxi seeil in a rield in which wc know 
 that the summer before the crop 
 had Ken destroyed by some disease. 
 BoBides the weeds which give so much 
 trord)le there are simic other injurious 
 plants which it is possible you may not some 
 "f you recogni/e as plants, I'or instance, it 
 does not occur to many farmers when they 
 SIC "rust" and "smut' on tlieir wheat, or 
 The "black spot" on their api)les, that those 
 arc plants. As a matter of fact, howevei-, 
 they are just as much plants as those on 
 whi'.h they are found ; nut they are of 
 <piite a ditlerent nature, tor they are para- 
 j'it** auvl derive their nourishment from the 
 'arg( r jjlanta iijion which tlioy grow. All 
 their parts are exceedingly small, and it is 
 nfcpSBary to examine them with fhe aid of 
 powfrfnl magnify!; ^ glasses before we can 
 
 understand the secrets of llieir !i\cs. The 
 smutty cars and the rusty discoloured spots 
 on the leaves and straw of wheat are not the 
 whole plants ; fmt merely the fruit consist- 
 ing of collections of innumerable 
 seeds — or, as they are called when 
 speaking of fungous plants, spores— each 
 one of wliich is so small !is to be invisible to 
 the naked eye, but which, neverthelesfl, is 
 capable of infecting a whole wheat plant 
 should it come in contact with its tissues — 
 I have said that what we see is only the 
 fruit. You may say "where then are the 
 other part.s of these mysterious plants?" I 
 will tell you. In the case of the "smut" the 
 spore lies in the ground or is carrieil there 
 upon the seed, and when the young wheat 
 plant liegins to grow this enemy forces its 
 roots into the tissues and 80*»n permeates 
 the whole plant. By the time it has fouuit 
 its way up to the ears it is mature and 
 ready to produce its fruit in the shape of 
 the black, sooty powder, the appearance of 
 which you all know so well. The poor 
 wheat plant all this time has been robbed of 
 its nourishment by tiiis parasite living in- 
 side its tissues, and is unable to produce its 
 seed. The spores of the fungous which pro- 
 duce "rust" do not act quite in the same 
 way, but are carried by the wind and settle 
 on the leaves or stem, and there send out 
 their roots, which find an entrance between 
 the cells and spread out in all directions, 
 sucking up the nourishment and strength 
 which should have gone to produce the 
 grain of the wheat plant. The result, how- 
 ever, is nearly the same, the weakened 
 straw is unable to carry up nourishmenl 
 surticient for the grain to properly fill out, 
 and there is, conse(piently, a great defi- 
 ciency in the anicunt of seed pro<luced. 
 There are, however, certain preventive 
 remedies which can always be applied, the 
 best of which are the judicious rotation of 
 crops and the choice of seed of varieties 
 which are known to be free from attack. 
 On well cultivated farms you do not con- 
 tinue crowing the same crops on the same 
 rields year after year. In Oanada 
 farmers have ample means of getting 
 information ; you take agricultural papers 
 and read Ihein. Yru iise improved methods 
 of rotation of cropi,, thus securing not only 
 the advantage of the constituents of most 
 use to each kind of crop which is accumulat- 
 ed year by year from the manure, only cer- 
 tain parts of whi<'h are used by each crop, 
 but you are also exempt to a large 
 degree from these destructive diaeasea 
 of which I am speaking. For Instance 
 the wheat crop is attacked by ru«t or 
 smut, and these diseaseh are allowed to oome 
 to maturity and the Bnores are left in the 
 soil ready to attack the next crop of a 
 
15 
 
 5^/ 
 
 ttimiiur nature it suwti ; hut it hy rotation 
 i>f cropH you ha\o two or thiff other kinds 
 of crops following,' it, the prohahilitit-s arc 
 that the spores Ijeconie exiuiusted and can- 
 not attack the same crop when it is its turn 
 t^) be sown atfaiii. The chief 
 remedies t-o be applied then for fungous 
 diseaaea must be preventive, because we 
 know very little about them. I hope in a 
 few years to have studied some of them out, 
 and then may l>e in a position to prescribe 
 remedies. 
 
 A ROTA MCA I. CAHI'IIV. 
 
 There will he ar tlie Kx|ieiiiiiental Farm 
 at Ottfiwa a botanical garden and arbo- 
 leturn. An area of sixty-tive acres has been 
 set apart upon which tices and plants of 
 eitononii'; value will be grown and testeii. 
 Plants from other paits of Canada, not 
 growing here indigenously, will be culti- 
 \ ated to see if we can make use of them in 
 this district. Plants from other countries 
 will also be tried to see if we cannot in- 
 crease the number of useful plants now 
 grown in Canada. As an instance of what 
 may be done in this line, I will mention 
 the Cinjhona tree from wliicli ((uiuine bark 
 is taken. For jears after its di.«cf)very, itwas 
 supposed that this would only grow in its 
 native forests of South Ameiica, but it is 
 now cultivated oxer the greatei 
 j)art of the tropical regions of the 
 world, and supplies the product called 
 <iuiniiie, which is one of tjie most valuable 
 medicines known, and, in all tropical clim- 
 ates, is a necessity in the treatment and pre- 
 vention of malarial f jvers. W by should vse 
 not be able to introduce into Canada useful 
 trees and pl;U\ts w hicii we have not now, 
 but which we have plenty of room for. At 
 the '.'entral Farm last season \\e cultivated 
 some of tlie ffidder plants which are not 
 grown yet in Canada — one of them from the 
 Fast called "(Jrani," belonging to the same 
 natural order as the \etclies mid (dover, 
 gives promise of succeeding well tiei-e, and, 
 should it do so, is a new fodder plant which 
 nuiy be of great value to farmers. 
 
 TliK yt'KSTtON OK KoKEST TKKKS 
 
 is one of greater importance than farniei's 
 are generally inclined to believe. They cul- 
 •■ivate their fields for wheat and other crops, 
 out they do not think much about the trees, 
 though the consumption of wood from year 
 "() year for different purposes is so enormous 
 that 1 urn afraid to mention the figures. In 
 the Unite<l States a report has lately been 
 nreoartd by Prof. Fernow, the Cluef of tiui 
 nivision of Forestry, whii^h shows that the 
 amount ot wood used annually for ditVer- 
 ent purposes, for the construction and 
 repairing of railways and bridgca, etc., 
 is BouKthing appalling. Tlie supply of 
 
 wood in our country is being so teduced by 
 lumbering operations, settlement and forest 
 tires, that it is necessary in all parts of 
 Cnnada to begin at once to renew tlie sup- 
 ply by tree planting. \ tar by year the 
 farmers in new districts destroy enormous 
 t|uantities of timber in clearing their farms, 
 but in a few years they will have to seek for 
 this material at a great distance. This 
 makes it all the more necessary for farmers 
 to undei'take the planting of trees on their 
 farms, not only to cover up this loss, hut 
 also ;is wind-bieaks and sheltt;rs for cattle, 
 and it is \ ery imj)ortant for them to know 
 beforeiiand in what way they can do so to 
 the greatest possible benefit. The farmer 
 is not always posted on the most advantage- 
 ous way of planting. Some will l>e sur- 
 prised to iiear that w ith many trees it is 
 more atUantageous to grow them from the 
 seed than to traiisj)lant them of considerable 
 .■*i/.e from the forest. Again some of oui 
 forest trees are vei'y n\uch more valuable 
 than otliers, and there is nuich yet to be 
 leaincd with regard to the best trees to 
 t'row on ceitain soils and ;n special locali- 
 ties. FvXtensive experiments will be ma<le 
 in this direction, all of w hich will be of great 
 use, so that all efforts nuiy be directed in a 
 useful and methodical manner. 1 will call 
 your attention to two of our most useful 
 and beautiful native trees -the black wal- 
 nut and the white ash. The tii-st of 
 these is found wild iu Canada, only 
 within veiy re8tricte<l limits, and it is 
 supposed by some to grow only iu places 
 v.here it will obtain a considerable degree of 
 heat. As a matter of f;ict, it has bet^n iis- 
 certained that this tree will stand a much 
 greater' degree of cold, and will thrive over 
 a much wider ai'ea than wsva at tir-st sup- 
 posed. At Ottawa it proved to be the sec- 
 ond ([uickest gi'owirig ( 'anadian tree, ft hi«n 
 been planted in >,>uebec and has succeeded 
 i-emarkably well. It was one of the most 
 valuable of our native woods, and is also an 
 extremely rapi<l growing tree ; and al- 
 thouL'h there have appeared during tlie bust 
 few years fal)ulous statements — which have 
 done a gr'eat deal of har'm — as to what returns 
 can Vie had fr-om grow ing waliuith, there is no 
 iloubt that l»y judicious planting of this tree 
 a <|uick returrr for the money can Ik? ob- 
 tained. Another tree of s})ecial value is the 
 w bite ash This tr-ee is useful for certain 
 p\rrpose8 at a moderate size, it grows easily 
 and docs not take up much room. When 
 farmer's are planting trees they will find it 
 advantageous to know before' hand those 
 which will give the ([uickest re turns 
 and thost! whicli are the most 
 valuable for timber. As I liave said, all 
 such experiments as these will Iw trit^l care- 
 fully at tiie Central Kxperimental Farm, 
 
 \ 
 
10 
 
 Iv*rge numbeiD of «lincient trees will 
 be grown from seed for tri»l iu ilitlereut 
 parts of the country, iu order to 
 ascertaiu where they do heat, aud 
 what kiuda eau he grown u> 
 the greatest advantage iu ceitaiu districts. 
 KffortB w ill also \>e made to improve the 
 Jiffereut kinds of grains, fruits and othe" 
 products. It frefjueutly happens that some 
 varieties have qualiticM not possessed hy 
 others, hy hyhri<Usiug or crossing these it is 
 sometimes possible to produce a new variety 
 with all the good qualities of its patents 
 consolidated. It is not wise to continue all 
 tlie time with old varieties which we know 
 will succeed ; but witli sucli an in.stitu- 
 tiou as 
 
 Tin; KM'KIUMKNTAI. I'AKM 
 
 we shall be able to risk taihire .sometimes 
 in the iiope of getting sumetliing new and 
 useful, and 1 understand this is one of 
 the objects with which the farm 
 was established by the (Jovernment. No 
 farmei' can afford to run the risk of hwing a 
 whole year's crop in trying new experi- 
 ments. 'Die ( !i)vernment liy cstabli.sliing 
 this innlitution Iiuh virtually sliown its 
 detcruiination to hcdp tht; farmers as imich 
 as possible. It is not right in such a new 
 country asC'anada for individual farmers to 
 have to risk lai'ge sum.s of money in tht se 
 experiments, important, nay necessary, as 
 tliey arc. So tlifc (iovernineiit stej)s in 
 and says, "I \\ ill have them done for you 
 and you shall have tiie benefit of the le- 
 sults. " I believe tliat the results o[)tained 
 under the pre&ent ilirection will be 
 highly practical ; but the work will 
 not cud liero, it will not be the obtaining of 
 results alone, these will be published peri- 
 odically as bulletins, wiitten in such a way 
 i^s to be intelligible to all who may 
 read them, which will bo distributed 
 broadcast all over the country. 
 
 Mr. Serson expressed himself as being very 
 much pleased with the aildrcss. He wtiuld 
 like to hear Mr. Fletcher's opinion whether 
 the weather ha<l not something to do with 
 rust. He tliought that when warm moist 
 weather prevailed it was mon? favourable 
 for the pioduction of rust. Ife would like 
 to know vhetlier in a dry season a clean 
 (Top of wheat or oats might not be grown on 
 a Held in wiiich in ihe previous year with a 
 warm, moist summer the crojf had been 
 badly attacked by rust. 
 
 Mr. Fletcher said there was no doubt that 
 under certain atmospheric conditions all 
 fungus plants wore developed more rapidly 
 
 than at other times ; at the same time they 
 could not come into existence spontaneously, 
 they must all come from spores or seeds. One 
 season you may have planted in such a dry 
 time that tlu^ spores do not get a start. 
 You certainly might possibly grow even on 
 the same tield where a crop had been badly 
 attacked by rust in the previous year but 
 under ditl'erent atmospheric conditions, a 
 crop of wheat that might not be affected ; 
 at the same time, as a preventive remedy, it 
 would be far better to grow on that tield 
 some other crop, clover or roots for instance, 
 than to grow wheat again the following 
 season. 
 
 Mr. .Serson said he had often seen in a 
 field of wheat rich spots where the wheat 
 would be more affected with rust than on 
 the poorei' parts. 
 
 •Mr. Fletcher said very vigorous growing 
 varieties of wheat would sometimes suffer 
 more frf)m rust than others. Last year, he 
 fore the Agricultural Committee, the ex 
 perience of different membeis of Parlia 
 inent was given, and th<' report would be 
 published next session. Ife ha<l no doul)t 
 .Mr. Jatnie.son would be glad to furnibh his 
 constituents who wished it w ith copies of 
 this report. There seemed to be no definite 
 rule that could be laid down with regard to 
 rusit on whvat, expei'ience in various locali- 
 ties was so different. One man would com 
 plain that a poor or weakly variety wa.< 
 attacked worst by mist, while anotlier 
 would say that a freegi'owing variety wa." 
 most attacked. One gentleman went so far 
 as to say that all nuick-growing varieties 
 were liable to rust. 
 
 Mr. McKinlay said that he had noticwl 
 on the coast of Xewfoundlaud liuit if a 
 foggy morning occurre i at a certain j)eriod 
 ot the year he alwaj's found his wheat 
 rusted. 
 
 Mr. Fletcl' r said th.it in England it wa.9 
 probable thai there was hardly a crop of 
 wheat grown which had not been, during 
 some time of its growth, subjected to foggy 
 weather, yet there; were many crops of 
 wheat raised tiu'ie witliout rust. It miglit 
 be tliat if the j)lant were in an unhealthy 
 condition it would bo more susceptible to 
 diiicase in foggy \\eather. As a matter of 
 fact this rust on cereals is nuu'e widosproaiJ 
 than any other vegetable disease kninvn. 
 
 An interesting discussion followed, whioli 
 it Wiks impossible to refiort owing to the 
 darkness of the room, 'i lie meeting closo«l 
 with the election of otlicjers for the ensuing, 
 year