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D D D TMsN Cvdm lOx ■mto NMIMf niiMd «Mtfl ■t ttw rachietlon ratio dMotod telow / 14x 18x 22x 2ex 30x J 12x Ita 20x 24x 2tx asx TIM copy ««•< *»•*• l*^ *•*» r«pro«yciid thwilw lUtional Library of Gonad* Tho imo««« oppoorins »»^« •'• «»• '»~'.''»'!|i!V poMiMo centidoring tho condition and iogiOiUty of tl»o orifinal copy and in koopina with tho -.minfl oontraot apooifieotiona. Oneinal copiaa in printad papar covara ara IMmod baainning •••ih th« front covaf and ending on ma laat pa«a with a printad or illuatraiad "np'"*- sion. or tho back covar whan appropnata. AM othar original copiaa ara filmad baginning on tho firat paga with a printad or itiuatratad impraa- •ion. and anding on tno laai paga witn a printad or Uluauaiad improaaien. Tha loat racordad frama on aach microflcha shaU contain tha aymool -^ *"»••'*•"• -Sn".* TINUED"!. or tho ■ymhoi ▼ (moaning 6N0 I. whiohovor appliaa. Maoa. Plata*, chart*, ate. may ba fllmad at SiSint raduction ratio.. Thoao too larga to bo antiroly includod in ona aapoauro ara filmad baginning in tha uppar laft hand cornar. laft to right and top to bottom, as many .;"•"•••• raquirad. Tha following diagram* illuatrata tha mothod: L'osomplairo fUmd f ul roprodoit srteo * !• ftrocMdo: Bibliothi«oo Mtionolo du Coaod* Loc imagoa tuivontoa ont *t« roproduitos avoc la piua grand toin. eompto tonu do la condition at do lo noitotO do roaomplaira tilmO. at •n aonf ormho ovoo loo aondiiiona du aonuat da Laa aaamploiroa originoua dont lo eouvanura an papiar aat imprimOo sont filmOa an eommancant par la pramiar plat at an tarminant soit par la darniOra pago qui comporto yno omprainta d'Impraaaion ou d'illuatration. soit par la tacond plat, salon lo eos. Toua laa autras aaampiairas originaua sont ffilmOa an commancan; par la pramiOra paga qyi eomporta urta amprainta d'Impraaaion ou d'lHuatration at an tarminant par la darniOro pago qui eomporto uno tollo omprointo. Un doa symboloa auivanu apparaitra sur la darniOra imago do choquo microflcha. salon la coa: la symbola -» siflnifio "A SUIVRE". lo •ymbolo V aignifio "FIN". Loa cartaa. planchas. tablaaun. ate. pauwant atra filmOa A doa toua da rOduction difforonts. Lorsquo lo document oat trep grand pour atra raproduit on un soul clichO. il oat filmo « partir da I'angla supOriour gaucha. da gaucha * droito. •t do haut an baa. t* pranant la nombra d'imagaa nOcaaaaira. Ua diagrammas suiwanu Uluatrant la mOthodo. 1 2 3 6 MMUmON TBT CHMT (A^4SI and ISO TEST CHART No. 2) (.0 1.1 IM U m 1^ 122 1^ UbI^ Uj& J^ /1PPLIED IM/GE Inc I'M £o« Uolfl SlrM "JcjMllr. Nnr Yort. 14609 US* (»H) 4M.03O0-PI»nr^ Commission of Conservation Canada CONSERVATION OF SOIL FERTILITY AND SOIL FIBRE Report of Conference held at Winnipeg, Manitoba July 14, 15 and 16, 1920 COMMITTEE ON LANDS Or. James W. Robertson (Chairman) Dr. C. C. Jones Dr. Frank D. Adams Hon. Sir James Lougheed I^. George Bryce Dr. W. J. Rutherford Mgr. C. P. Choquette Hon. S. P. Tolmie Mr. Edward Gohier Dr. H. M. Tory OTTAWA, 1920 14373-1 OTTAWA TBOMAS MULVET PRINTBR TO THS iQNO'S UOaT EXCBLUCNT MAJCSTT IMS r^'C^M!'} ConimlMloii of ConMnration CtnMiuM unit "TA. C«w«^i«, Act." 8-9 Edwmrd VII. Okmp. §7 1909 md Amtniimg AcU 9-JO Mdwmrd Vll. Ohmp. 4t. 1910. ami *4 Qtifrg« V, CImp. li, 1919. Actins OtMkmMi: Hon. Senator WnxuM Oambmr Eowamm. OtUwa, Ont. Hon. AuBur E. Ambjiavlt. Summeniik, P.E.I. Br. HowMD HcMAT. D«m, Dtlhouri* Uniwwity, Hdlifo, N.8 ^' vS ^' '""'' °*'*"*'*""' ^»i^««i»y of N«r Brun.wick. FfwteHoton. Mr. WiLLUM B. Skowwu,. Chatham, N.B. Hon. Hunu 8. Biuun>, St Jo«(ph-de-Be«nce. Que. ^' Ib^M qHT'' ^^' ^'^^^ "' "*"*''^ ^'•"*' ^*^'" U"i^«Jty. ^f"^^ f .CHOj^.Tti, Bt Hyacinths. Que.. Profeawr Seminary of St Hyaointhe, and Xembar of Faoultj, Laval Unirerrity. Mr. EowAio OoHm. St Laurent. Que. Mr. W. F. Tti, Paat-Preddent, Engineering Inititute of Ca ada, Montreal, Dr. Jamis W. BrauTaoN, O.M.O.. Ottawa. Ont Mr. Ohabus a. MoCool. Pembroke, Ont Sir EOMUKD B, Obleb, Goremor, Unireraity of Toronto. Toronto. Ont Mr. John F. MaoKat. Incmoll. Ont Dr. B. E. Frairow. Dean Emeritua. Faculty of Forestry. Unireraity of Toronto, Toronto, Ont Dr. OioMu Bavcs. UnirerMty of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Man. Dr.'WauAM J. BcTH«ro«). Dean. Faculty of Agriculture, Unireraity bf Saakatchewan, Sadutoon. Saak. Dr. HiKBY M. Toby, Premdent. Uniyemity of Alberta. Edmonton. Alta. Mr. JoHH Pbabb Baboook, Aaaiatant Comminioner of Fiaheriea. Viclor'a, B.O. Mambara, ax-afllch: Hon. S. F. Tolmm, Miniater of Agriculture, Ottawa. Hon. Sir JTameb I/)uoheed, Miniater of the Interior, Ottawa. Hon. Waltbb M. Lea, Commiaaioner of Agriculture, Prince Edward laland. . Hon. O. T. Daniels. Attomey-GenerAl. Nora Scotia. Hon. C. W. EOMNSON, Miniater of Landa and Minea. New Brunawick. Hon. HoNOBi Meboeb, Miniater of Lands and Foreats, Quebec. Hon. Benuh Bowman, Miniater of Landa and Foreata, Ontario. Hon. Thomas H. Johnson, Attorney-General, Manitoba. Hon. C. M. EUmuton, Miniater of Agriculture, Saskatchewan. Hon. Chables Stewabt, Premier. MinUter of Bailways and Teknhonea. tdberta. Hon. T. D. Pattuixo. Minister of Landa, British Columbia. Deputy Head: Mr. Jambs Whttb. CONTENTS Paob Admbm or Wbloom* 5 Luut.-Oottmor Sir Jamr* i. M. Aikint. » CiiAnMA!*'* AnniENR 7 Dr. Jamr» W. Rohtrlton. Soil Cowmekvatton and Westekx Crop Prodvotiox 11 Dr. J. H. Qrisdale. CiKNOB or Chop* AND Soil PRoovrrnEMBM S4 Prof a. U. CuU*r. Ckopmno Systemu for Drouuiit Abeas 28 Prof. John Bracken. AoVANTAnB* AMD PROFITS OF SviTEMATIC CbOP RoTATIOX M W. C. MeKillican. Oooo Seed 31^ L. H. Newman. Provuicial Oovern veht Co-operation 47 Soil Moisture 5^ Prof. S. S. Hopkins. ILuNTBNANCB OF Soil Fibre ^ Prof.T.J. HarrittA. Fundamental PRiNaPLEs of Soil Fertilitv 80 Prof. R. Uan»"n. Soil Drifting in tiiern Alberta tk W.U.Fair).... Urobhcy of Furtiieu Irrigation Development in Southern Alberta.... 79 0. R. Marnock. Influence of Windbreaks on Field Crops g3 Norman It. Ro»$. The Weed Menace and its Control ag Prof. 8. A. Bedford. mmmmm Conference on Soil Fertilify and Soil Fibre WlMiHi. jHljr 14. II, U, |«N UNUER the aiupinm of llir C»miiiiMion of Conwrvatioii, 4 niiifemiiw wa* hM at Wiuiipte. Jnly 14, 19 and It. IMO. to conaider tb* b«at OMthod* of coaamint Mil fartility and toil ibn. Dr. Jaaaa W, BoUrtaon, Chairman of tho Ccounittea on Landa, ooeupicd tlM ekair, nd iatradaoad Sir Jamea A. U. Aikana. Liaut-OoTeroor of Manit^. who waloooMd tho dalocataa. In Um ooniao of bia addnat. Sir Jaowa aaid: " There ia an adar% 'Ha ia walooma wLo brinfa.' On tl ' ground you are weloome, bccauaa you briar to ua aometbinc wortb wbik, th . useful tboucht and aucgeationa wbieb will be t-xpreaMid in this convention. We welcome you, raorwivi-r. h<>cauM you ar".- from all parte of Canada, your purpow ia national, and not aeotional, provincial or elaae. I* ia for unity and conperation and not for aeveryl tboui^t and action. Oanaral Smnto well aaid, in roapeot of tbe war. tbat tba battle front waa in tba aoul of tbe nation. That truth is equally applicable in ra^aet of the battle you are waging againit waitefulnev and for the oonaervation of our natural raaouroaa. We have need of an entbuaiaatie and sane directing spirit among ua at tbe preaent time, when there ia anob a confiiet of claasee and such seMabnaas in individual effort. When there appeara to be a dispoaition to follow the suggection of 'avaryone for hiireelf and de'il like the hindermoat' the strong probabilitiea are that the de'il has largely already possession of tbe one who thus endeavours to hrip himself in disregard of ofbers. " Any parson studying the political and constitutional hi .of Canada sees ariaing out of its miste a national form of beauty end ttn h, requiring •till development. At the present time, Canada ia in a nuge 01 aelf-oon«cious- new, a stage in which egotism may develop to itr iwrn-y, or where it may ba guided by aane thought into safe paths. Ito greate^l dangers ara aelfiahneaa and waate. a aelfishnua which doea not 'i ^; simply , th9 present disregard of the righte of others, but a disregard fo» r}» righto and nteivsto of those who are to follow ua. and for whom as well as 10^ rarselves Miia heritage waa given. Tho aelfiduMss lies in a aacrificing of the future for the present. We are told that that which ia aeen is temporal but that which is not seen ia eternal, and 1 -iPV******" °' *o-erienoe. The following extracts from the address of the chairman at the first annual meeting of the Commission, indicate the character and scope of ita duties end work : — No Exscutivs " "^^^ Commission is not an executive nor an administrative body. Pewsrs ^* ^* '"*' executive or administrative powers. Its constitution pves it power to take into consideration every subject which may be regarded by its members as related to the conservation of natural resources, but the results of that consideration are advisory only. In a sentence, the Com- mission is a body constituted for the purpose of collecting exact information, deliberating upon, digesting and assimilatang this information so as to render it of practical benefit to the country, and for the purpose of advising upon all ouestions of policy that may arise in reference to the actual administration of natural resources where the question of their effective conservation and econo- mical use is concerned." " The Commission is, in fact, probably the most truly national in its compo- sition of any l>ody that has ever been constituted in Canada." The Commission formed within its Membership standing committees for the consideration of questions in the main departments of its work. These are: Forests; Waters and Water-Powers; Lands; Fisheries, Game and Fur-bearing AnimaU; Minerals; Public Health and Town Planning; Press and Co-operating Organizations. Forests and Wateh-Powers During ten years of its service, the Commission has done eminently valu- able woric for Canada. It has been a power in educating piAlic opinion on the urgent necessity of cons^ving forests against destruction by fires and in securing legulation and subsequent action towards that end. Much has also been done in taking stock of our forest resources and in making studies of the annual increase by growth. After years of painstaking work, in the field and among Dominion, Provincial and private records, the Commission published reports on the water-power resources of Eastern Canada, the Prairie Provinces and Britidi Columbia, Thss • coMMiaainv op conservation it came about that the «wt adequate and reaaonably aceunte estimate .of tne extent and character of the water-poweia of Canada ia due to the work of the Conuniaaion. The ConuniMion waa the principal asency during the early years of Ha aenrioe through whidi TantaMa raidi l^ i»iv«te intereata to get oontrol of inyw rtant water-powan, without considerati<« of the public interest, were frustrated. The principlea enunciated hy the Oonuniadon reapeoting the aliena- tion of water-power hare now been geuBrally accepted by govemmenU and by the people at luge. Theae ate: that no unconditional titlee ahall be granted and that merj grant or lease of power shall be conditioned upon derek^ment in a apee^ed time, public control of rates, and a reoUl charge subject to revision frran time to time. Similar useful serrice has been rendered in the departments of Fisheries, Game and Fur-bearing Animals; Mineral*; Public Health and Town-planning; and Educational PuUidty. CoMifiTm ON Lauds Under its Committee on Lands the Commission began its work by ascer- taining as fully as practicable tihe condition of lands under cultivation and whether the systems and methods of farming were resulting in the conservation of fertility and productivity. For several years it conducted aurvcTS of condi- tions on groupa of farms in representative diatricte in every province. The surv T* were made for sixty-two groups, which contained a total of 2,345 farms. The detailed results were reported upon in the published annual reports. They ravealed the fact that in many cases fertility had been and was being leduoed, weeds were becoming increasingly prevalent, and systematic oourses of rotation of crops were not being folk>wed. At the same time in every group of faiam surveyed, some farms etood out conq>icuou8ly as exam^et of conservation, and at the same time as illustrations of profitable agriculture. In consequence, one of such farms in each of tIhe first groups surveyed in 1912-13 was chosen by the neighbouring fanners, in cooperation with the Commisifion, aa an Illustration Farm. The Illustration Farm was not in any sense taken over Fa^*I'*'*" ^ .^^ Oommiaaion. The iUustration farmer did not receive any salary or subsidy. He agreed to accent regular visits from the agricultural adviser sent by the Commis- sion and to put into practice on his farm only such advice or suggestions as he conaidered would prove profitable to him. The Commission gave a little financial assistance to encourage the use of seed grain of first-class quality and suitability, to try out the sowing of krger quantities of clover and grass seeds per acre, and to bring about more effective methods of cultivation to suppress weeds. The object of the investigation by the Conmiieaion, in oo-opera- tion with the illustration farmers, was to discover whether the combination of expat and scientific information and advice from the Commission with the profit- making methods of the practical fanner would result in the conservation of fertility, increase the profits, and bring more satisfaction to the farmer and his fandly from following the occupation. Meetings were held on these farms to ei^ilain the system and methods to neighbouring farmers and to demonstrate what these were aooomplidiing when applied, not on a Government farm, but on one such as the farmers themselves occupied and under condition similar tc those with which th^ had to do. The results were atriking. The improvements were notable and numerous. There Was a pressing demand for these Illustration Farms in other localities. But the Commission, not being an administrative branch of Oovemment aervice, and having accomplished its object in pointing to an effective means of promoting conaervation and profit, turned over the scheme to the Department of Agricuhnre. There is now an Illustration Farms Division of the Dominion Experimental Farms. ADDRESS BT CHAIRUAN % lllu*tr«ti«n '^^^ aucceu which attended the Ck>inmuaion'> aurregr of farma Ceunty "ifitable ways, Canada is, as yet, imperfectly and incompletely organised. This does not refer so much to the organization of the Dqwrtments of Agriculture of the Governments, Federal and Provincial, as it does to the lack of organized means by which the ordinary farmers may be enabled and will be induced to bring their farming up to the present level of the best farmers. The chief obstacle is that the application of the knowledge which is now possessed and used by the t jt faiiners is, as yet, to a large extent not operative in the case of the ordinary farmers. And it must not be forgotten that the kind of management and work on the ordinary farms, by the great body of Canada's intelligent, capable and industrious rural population, is what determines the prosperity, stability and progress of the country. Agriculture is to be regarded as a national interest as well as an occupation followed by individuals to earn their living. As a national interest very much more can be done and should be done for its further improvement. We will have to rely, in the main, on the improvement of agriculture and the further development of our other natural resources and industries to enable us to main- tain prosperity, to pay our way as a nation and to pay our public debt. More- over, in the keener competitions we are sure to meet in the world's markete we cannot expect to hold our place unless our people are as well informed, as well trained, and as well organized as others. I venture to submit five propositions regarding organization required to help in the advancement of the average farming of the country and in the conservation of the fertility and productivity of our lands. (1) Provision should be made, particularly by the employment of highly qualified men and women, for further research investigations in the field, in the laboratory and in the nurket. (2) Experimental work should be continued and co-ordinated on Govern- mental Experimental Farms in trying out and comparing methoda of applying knowledgw, already possessed, to the practical operations of farming, in order to obtain the best economic results under the vsrying conditions of soils, dimste, markets, labour and other available resources. 10 COMMISSION OF CONSERVATION (S) Prorkion ahonld be made, through competent editorial boards or com- mitteea, for oompiling, atudying, interpreting and publiahinff, in simple terms and in reaaonahly alKtrt form, the conduaiona arrived at by reliable, adequate inreaticatione anywhere, eo far ac theae may be applicable, with the prospect of adTantagaous economic results, under Canadian conditions. Such boarda or oonunitteee might be formed, in the first instance^ for such large and geperal subjects as, — (a) The relation of the physical condition and chemical composition of soils to the production of crops. (b) l^stems and methods of producing field crops in relation to profits and the conserration of fertility. (e) The breeding, feeding and care of live stock and the marketing of animal products. (d) The production and marketing of fruits and vegetables. (e) The control of plant diseases and injurious insects. I am very wdl aware of the great amount of useful information now In existence in the form of reports and bulletins, but even an illuatration farper haa neither time nor quality of mind to glean from these the very things le needs, and the only men who can glean it and put it right are not editors cf agricultural publications but an editorial board of men who have been carrying on the work themselves and are familiar with the conditions and know the needs. Out of the stacks of printed matter we are in danger of losing some of the beet conclusions and information for the common people, and that is why I recommend the formation of such boards for the purpose — to give us some- thing rather different and more serviceable than we have had hitherto. The report of the proceedings of this conference will doubtless be a useful contribution to the literature on the first two of the subjects just mentioned. (4) At least one Illustration Fann should be chosen by the fanners in e/ery considerable community, on which they could see for themselves the results from the practical application of a combination of scientific information and advice from an expert with the profit-making system and methods of an experi- enced successful farmer. (5) A Neighbourhood Improvement Association, or Better Farming Club, in close association with each Illustration Farm, would become a means whereby the -aatural leaders of the locality would be brought into full play for the development of every farm and fanner, and the improvement of the whole community. Such a scheme of organization would provide the means whereby Prebabl* ^]^ discoveries, information and recommendations of the best **" * institutions, the best minds, and the best work would be brought home to the average farmers with unparalleled beneficial results. It would cost a comparatively small amount of money. Its practical evolution and appli- cation offers an unsurpassed opportunity for the best brains, hands and hearts in Canada. When in full operation it might be reasonably expected to brinjc about an increase in the annual value of the output of the farms by from 20 per cent upward with scarcely any increase of expenditure. That estimate is , not a mere conjecture. It is based on knowledge of what has already been accomplished in localities surrounding Illustration Farms. At the current range of prices 20 per cent increase would represent between $800,000,000 and $350,000,000, as the weather conditions were less or more favourable; and the fertility and productivity of the farms would be conserved and improved continuously. Perhaps it would not be useful to have a discussion of this address now, but an (>een identified, until very recently, for many year«. My first experience in connection with crop production in the west dates back some twenty odd years, when we had farms on the prairies at Brandon and Indian Hoad only. Since then we have acquired a number mora Soil rsrtility ^° '**'" ^*'^' *'<*'»««'■'**'<"» of 90>1 fertility and increased and IncrsaMd ''"P P'e crops, but we want, and must have, at the same timB that we keep the fertility in the soil, to maiutain the crop-producing power of those soils, or, if possible, to increase it. It is quite possible to do thi«, as has been demonstrated in many countries. The only cultural metliods or crop production systems to advocate, having in view soil conservation, are those which are at the same time capable of increasing crop-producing powers. The Held that from year to year is made to produce these crops should, at the same time and probably is becoming more and more fertile rather than losing its fertility. In European countries, where fields have been under crop produc- tion for thousands of years, the crop-produ.-ing powers of the fields were greater just before the war than they ever had been before that date. Due to lack of man-power, lack of fertilixer and more or less breaking away from the regular crop rotation that had been followed sucrcssfully and advisedly on the farms in those countries, the producing power of the fields to-day in those European fv^'i? J"**-^^* '* ^'■'' *^" ^^"' **"'• ^° ^°"^*' 'lo'^ever, once things are on the old footing, the countries of Europe will be producing just as large crops «3 ever before and possibly larger, because they have many incentives to spur them on to greater effort, to greater thought, and to more careful operation of their farms. 13 COMMISSION OP CONSERVATION li a.*. I. ^'* '*^ C«n«k hare not h«l that ume length of time or Falw l!!^MlM «P«»»"><». P" ticularly on thcM praimi. that hu been tha l*rMluetlM« experience of the men in the old connti7. In Ontario^ how- ever, many fanna hare been made to prodnoe in recent yean mnoh (reater oropa than thej ever produced before^ even when they aad that priatine fertility following the clearing of the land from foreat It ia quite evident that in Canada, too, in aome parts, at leut, we need not anticipate any serious depletion of soil fertility if we are careful to foUow the methods that are calculated to give us the best results. It is undoubtedly truc^ however, that on the prairiea many of our farms, i i fact, I think I am safe in saying, M« majorittt of the fartnt, are not producing to-day tkt crop* that they did twenty- live or thirty yeare ago. I can well remember the district of Winnipeg that number of years ago, when crops seemed to have been much better than they have been in the last six or eight years. The reaaona for this are vitrious; probably the most common being the abundance of weeds. The ability of the iarmer, under present cultural or crop producing conditions, to keep his farm free from weeds seems to be very small, due, no doubt, judging by our experience, to the practice of unsatisfactory, or ill-advised, or of very poorly executed or carried out cultural methods. A further evident defect is the lack of moisture conserva- tion power in our land. We suffer in this country periodically from drought, but the farmer who has utilized prope» methods in the preparation of his fields for moioture conservation has a good crop. Now, that may sound slightly exag- gerated, when moisture conditions are bad or when there has been practionlly no rain, but my observation during the past ten years goes to show that it is absolutely correct. Moisture may be conserved, however, in a very large portion of our soils, under even the most adverse conditions. In 1914, we had in the western part of these prairies a very serious drought, there being little precipi- tation throughout that district The situation was so serious that I waa dde- gated by the Department of Agriculture, at Ottawa, to investigate conditions, and to make a report as to what measures might be taken, not only to alleviate the situation, but to prepare against a repetition of crop failure, if possible, under similar conditions in the future. I went through the drought area, and spent some weeks visiting farm after farm, discussing with the individual farmers the situation and observing it for myself. In every part of Sadcatchewan that I visited, and it was chiefly in that province that I made my observations, in prac- tically every town you could find good crops here and there, not crops due to local showers or to any peculiarity of the local land area, but due to some special treat- ment of the fieW in question by the owner. Some of those fields would yield. I should judge, from '0 to "i i bushek in some cases, and others from 35 to 80 bushels per acre. In 1914, a crop of 10 to 12 bushels was a godsend and 20 to 25 bushels was a miracle in those districts, yet those very conditions existed, prr-ing that, if the right cultural methods were followed, at least a fair crop ui. er most adverse conditions might be anticipated. This was proven again by the fact that over the fence, or across the road, exactly similar soil, so f ar aa •one could judge by the most careful examination, had no crop at all. This made me more certain than ever that crop production, and with it aoil conservation, depended upon the man rather than upon the land. True, weather conditions and soil have a good deal to do with it, but absolutely certain it is that the farmer has quite as much if not more. The factors that seem to be militating against crop produc- p' eta'"* *'"*'* **°" °" these prairies, and that are responsible for the accusation * ** that is being made now and again that the crop-producing power of our land is decreasing, are: — (a) Weeds, which are the principal factor in some districts in lessening crop production; • OIL CONaBRVATIOK AND CROP PRODUCTION 13 .nA 21 ^-l^JT^r?' "?*'»«^«' .*'"■'•»> •«» " important factor in .11 ar«a« ana Uw pfinapal factor in cerUin area*, becaiue the cultural methods just rait««to crop iirodnotion under condition* as they exist there are not known- Ae iTn ^rS^^"'*^' *° •?".• ?'*^'"«' '^•«' ' '»"* P^'y""*! condition of the sou due to bad cropping methods in past years; eren m the eaatem part of the prairies, and even in this province, the .^iSr*^f*°"' ^* ^^ *5 "*• ?" *•»** «"'• ^^'''^ •'« responsible for 1^^. T * 1* ""' P"'"* l-""!* "W losing their fertility. Admitting these ^^T«^ !t T "i *?' *''.^ "t'^ "fP " *» <**"*' «•»'»* "»•"» l>« done not only to correct the tendencies in these directions but to restore our soil to a is ,i:^ltrjrzii^. ""' ^"" '"'''• *'^ ''"''''^' -^^^ ««* »"»''-• (6) To mamULi or increase the moisture-holding quality of the soil The Tirt: ^^T, f" ^^ *"■ *'T "^V"* " '' ^^""^ »'"' «" tl»« J*™*" «nd fibre, If It u not broI:en down in edges, has wonderful moisture-holding poT-ers. as Tl^ CSlf \ m"**"** ^ •^•'^"T "P°" ''■ 0"« «"^d «'^« '»«>y «»n>Pi« ^Tre^SlS. '"''"* "°"'"" *" "'"^ """'''' -^'^^ ^^''^ -»t«~ h" 1.. Jf? Abundant fibre content. If we have the land free from weed*, if we have It capable of holding moisture in abundance, and if we have it full of fibre mi"lf r* " '* ''•f '^. '^^ ^1}^^^^. then we have U capable of prSucing '.^e, of^'T' '^^'jf.P';oP«riy handled after that, of maintaining that power of production indefinitely, and. possibly, in the case of certain scdls mojeasing it, for there is absolutely no reason why we cannot increase the fertl^ty :Ld"Kl?r ssr '"' "' '^ '^^ •^•"^ -'" '' ^-« <^- - »"« ^- The operating of our farms or soils to bring about the con- ditions I have mentioned— freedom from weeds, increased moisture-holding power, and increased fibre content,— involves, It has seemed to me and to those of our staff with whom I nave been associated lu a study of this matter, the introduction of some hoed crops into our rotations on the prairies. This does not necessarily mean hand hoeing- I see some here who have had practical experience on the prairie, and they will agree that to undertiJce to hoe over a whole section iu a few years would be quite a contract-but hand hoeing is not the only method of hoeing on the prairies, a^ more than it is elsewhere. It is quite possible, as I have seen in the last few days in Manitoba, to cultivate hoed cvops with little work and to keep them practically free from weeds. The summer-faUow must continue to a greater or Iws extent, according to the district or province in which we are operating. Then we must more closely adhere to right methods of performing the different operations. I am not exaggerating one particle when I say that carelessness in cultural methods has been undoubtedly the greatest curee to this country. It takes precedence over any other evil that is found upon the ^^ ■ ° «»« carelessness are due, in very large measure, the presence of weeds in such abundance, a poor moisture conservation and the low fibre content. Further, to increase the fibre, we must have the uses of grass^ and cbvers to a greater extent than-has been practised in tLe^st ThLltates flZTJ"" ^"'^- ^ *^^ ^^'^ '" "' "" ""f^ »»»»' the factors makii^ Jo^ decreased crop production power are those I have mentioned. Anv one of them fnH l^nt*;""'!, r'^-^u^'l '^'^^'^'J* "'*'"^' ^"» 1 '^i" ^'^"•e that phase of U have^ndertak'^et' ""•" considered the practical side of the work that we Introduction of Head Crop* Nacassary 14 coMMiaaioN OF coNaanvATioiv Ort^lnt EnparlmMito Nine yean ■go last March, after sone jrean of oonaideration previoiuly and after diwtuaiou with our then Experimental Farm staff, before I wai director of farma and when I wa/ more doiely in touch even than I waa later, I oaOed a meeting at Rerina of our then •uperintendeatt, Mr. Fairfield, Mr. Button, Mr. Maekay, Mr. Munro, Mr. ETereat, and Mr. Murray. After three or four dajn apant in threah- ing theae problem* out we outlined aome lyitems of work to be undertaken on our Experimental Farms. These we immediately prooeaded to put into effect In the summer of 1811, we started on the Experimental Farma at Lethbridge, Lacombe, Indian Head, Scott, Roathem, and Brandon linea of experimental work which included experiments in crop rotation and in cultural methoda. The results from experimental work are of value and intereat to the arerage farmer only when they are translated into dollars and oenta. Tou tell a man that it is a good thing for the conservation of fertility in the soil to grow a certain crop or to do a thing in a certain way, and he immediately wants to know what is goins to happen to his purse while he is carrying out that work. He might have ideal conditions for fertility conservation but very poor conditions for the conservation of the life of the owner and his stock, so I shall try, in whnt I have to say in connection with these experiments, to put it into dollan II nd cents, and let the results speak in that way. To make the %urea co'.i(< .'able, fixed valuea were put on all for ^^mpaHson *"*** '* ^"^^ **"*■ ®''*-'' -hanKM have been made recently j aome cases, but for seven or eight years fixed valuea were used in order to compare one year with another, without going back to aee what the value of wheat was in 1911 or in 1817. We also fixed valnea of the differmt work. A man'a work waa valued at«> much « year in 1811, and waa kept at that j^ce, though we may have had to pay more. The cultural work we undertook — ^because we have to undertake the cultural as well as the rotation — includes some twenty different lines. Some of them it has been found prssible to eliminate; and from some of them we did cot gain any information worth while and they iMve been dropped. Most of them are st:ll under operation at meet of these farms, and from a good many of them we are ^ning valuable knowledge, which in a short time, I think, will be made pttblic, and the best practices be generally adopted by the fanners of this country. The information is, of course, being uaed to a limited extent at present, through the teaching of our different euperimtendenta. On tbe whole, we have in cultural experiments some 2,500 or 3,000 plots at the different farms mentioned^ about 500 at each farm. These cover the whole field of cultural methoda and problems, so far as were known »t that time, that confronted the prairie farmer. The firat thing considered, and I will try to arrange these in order of priority on the farm of the farmer, waa the breaking. We had on certain of our farms aome virgin soil, and we studSed different methoda of breaking. Breaking has been studied for many years, but it has never been definitely settled as to wludi is the best method of dodng it. I have travelled over these prairies for twenty odd years, and with as many different e'-eakers purporting to be practical men and really practical men on these prairies, but very seldom did I find two n>en in suooeaaioa advocating the same method of breaking or the same treatment, so it waa necea- sary to study that problem as well as the others. It was decided that the experi- ment should be to determine the beet time and method of breaking virgin prairie sod and to determine the advisability of crapping the land the year it ia brok n. The. results, very briefly, of some of these breaking experiments were: — Cropping on Sprins Breaking Green feed, flax and wheat are compared, sown on spring breaking; wheat is sown on deep spring breaking and also on land broken shallow and backset ■ OIL CONaSRVATIOIf AND CROP PltODVCTION M ^fntia at Ltikhridtt-Th* b«t tmuIU wm obtoiiMd by ihallow biwUnc Mrtjr in Jra. aad bMlnettinff in S«ptai>b«. Sowin* wh«t. in or«r«nted on land broken tha «une tpriag did not praT« a good praotioe. i.„ i^"^ "* «co«-D«p fl,Hn» ploughin, yiddnl. on the sTmie. ovw one ^Si!^ '*"• T^ *•"' •'""*"' brwJring ud baekMUing. BackwUinc U not comridewd an adrantave, howerer, where tlw naiire T<«rution i» deetroyad by pkrai^nf once. «»wvj«u oy J?MiiI/« «« J?o««A««i— Deep ploughing in June gare tne hi^Mt yield*, while •hallow ploughing in June and badoetting in September gave the next higheet The great problem., undoubtedly, are nioi.tur*-con«»Tation of the moiiture- holding power of the land, weed freedom and inereaMd fibre content, along JSirfir"^ .t r* 7'*^ .•""•*"" «>»^«tion- Thi. experiment wu. therrfore. along the line of moiitura oonaerration. beoauM the chief object in breaking n to uproot the eoil and then hold the moieture that falb that aeaaon. The next con«deration woa depth of ploughing, which ie twain a matter of STSlSif "tT-""' ^' "'"^ ^.* ^°''' •* •" •*« '•"»• ^"^ 'S^T^i ^ that th^ are niSi«"^ "L"° ■ l'"^ *^* -"*• " "^ '»*' -ntioipated. aeeing that the Alberta. The raulte were kept separately and compared or collated later. Depth of Ploughing (Summer-fallow') 0««tne-Sunimer.fallow was ploughed at depths varying from three to eight in^. mhwiliag four mches, beneath a ploughed furrow of from five to eight ResulU at Lethbridge—BesM\t» were rather contradictory, but. in general •haUow plousfhing gave the lowest yield. It is considered that subsoiling certainly Has uc value as a neans of overcoming drought. Re»ult» aiLacomhe— Beet resulte were obtained from ploughinir six to eiirht aT : ^ °"^'l"W^»n«'«««d the moisture-conserving power of the land, but I do not think enough to pay for the subsoiling. Refultsat Sco«— Results aro more or less contradictory, but the practice of subeoilmg has proved beneficial. practice oi ResuU» at Rosthem-Beat results obtained from ploughing five inches deen Resulh at Brandon-Ho consistent difference has been observed from various depths of ploughing. The yield of wheat has been le^S^ty si- Depth of Ploughing (Breaking Sod) Outline— Thtee plots were ploughed, 3, 4 and 6 inch« deep, in the falL and another plot 3 mches deep in the spring, and sown with wheat. IIOM OV CONBBRTAtlOK I w lte •< Ltthhriitt, LacMAt, tmi B ram d tn D wpw ploailiiBC gun • ■ii|kt iaoMM !■ whMt mi ■ aoiv bwiM ine rm t in Mti lowii tb* ywr foUow lag oa th* whMt rtaHflt. J I mii H* ai gwO w w No rmlte aoltd. BtmMt «l /wKm J?mmI— Baralta ban wen cnetljr oppMiM to thoM at LatkMdgs and LMomb«, the shallow ploa^inc rirlnr the beat reanlta. Sw mmmr- f tXUw Trtttrntnik fOnca m. Twiei Phughimt) Ot M mt Tbyee plots were fdongfaed at Taryinc depths in Jnne, packed and snltiTatcd. Three other |dots were ploughed at the same depths in June, enltiTated, idoni^Md again in September, and harrowed. BttuUt at Brandon'— Vo adrantage was shewn from ploughing twice. B$9»Ua at Indian HsoJ— Ploui^ing twice prored unnecessary, where first plott^iing was from six to eight indies deep. BaattUa at BeaU — ^Ploui^ng twice gara smaller yields than ploughing once, besides being an added expense. In semi-arid areas, ploughing twioe tends to dry out the soil, BaaMa at £a«oiiib« — ^Better yields giren by ploughing once. Double plough- ing gare a heavier crop of straw, which did not stand up Tcry welL SaauUa at L»thhridg$ — Flouring twioe gare slightly larger yields than ploughing onoe, but at an added expense. When ploughed land was left unharrowiBd in the fall, there was a loss of over one bushel per acre. Summar-faOew Treatment (Depth of Single Ploughing) Outline — ^Plots were ploughed 4, 6 and 8 inches deep, packed if necessary and practicable, and oultiTated if necessary. Beaulta at Brandon— Daep ploughing gave best results. Beaulta at Indian Head — Six inches gave best results, 8 inches tlie next best, and 4 inches the poorest. Beaulte at Beott and Lethhridge — Increased yield as deptli of ploughing increased. Laeomhe — ^Wheat sown on fallow gave highest yields for shallow ploughing, but the oats sown on stubble the second year reversed this result. Summer-Fallow Treatment (Paeiure v». Bare Fallow) Outline — One plot was ploughed five inches in June, seeded to rape or other green forage crop, and pastured off. This was compared with bare fallow, receiving the «ame preparatory treatment. BeaultM — Pasturing off reduced yield at all five farms. Summer-fallow Treatment (Dates of Ploughing) Outline — Three plots were ploughed on May 15, June 15, and July 15; they received the same subsequent treatment, and resulting crops were compared for two years. Results at Brandon and Indian Head — July ploughing gave lower yields than either Hay or June. May ploughing showed no advantage over June. Results at Rosthem — June ploughing gave higher yields than either May or July. Results at Scott and Lacombe — Earliest ploughing gave highest returns, but in the case of May pbughing, sul>sequent cultivation was necessary tiirough the summer. Results at Lethhridge — June ploughing gave the highest yields. ■ OIL CONBBRVATION AND CHOP PRODUCTIOK 17 AuMb Tnmtm*ni for Wktmt (FtU ««. 5yri«# PUrttkint. Vs» •/ Pmehtr) OitlUiie— flonw ploto wn plouflwd in the t^ng and othtt plote in tbt fall SoBM fall pbnclMd plots wan mbturfaoa paekad immadiatcly after plouching. Soma sprinc plonfbad plota wen alto packed. Saeding waa done at the lame tini on all pk/ia. AatMi^ a< MkMdgt— Spring plouf hinc fan hi^er yields than fall pboch- in«, as stnfabia holda tha snow. No inonaaa waa noted from use of packer on fall ploofhinff, but incnased yield followed the padiinc of spriny plonghinf . A«««l<« a( Ueomh»—TM plou^inc fan hi^ier yields than sprinf ploufh- inf, bnt padiinf showed same nsults aa at I^hbridfe. Kuuitt ai Seoti—SuM ntulto as at Lethbridfe. with the ezoeption that paokinf incnased yields both in sprinf and fall plonf hinf . ploofhinf. SfntlU at Rotlkem—FM plouffainf fave hifhpr yiehk than spring Retulit at Indian Head—Snm results as at Rostbem. Packinf increased yield on spnnf as well as on fall plou^inf . Outline— On one plot the stubble waa burnt and wheat seeded at once. S$iult» «l Bnimion.— Inconolnsire. Stuhbh Treatment for Wheat (Spring Burning) Outlint— On one plot the stubble waa burnt and wheat seeded at once. Resulta on this plot wen compared wjth those on pk>U on which stunbla waa burned in the fall and then plouffaed, and ordinary fall pfcufhinf . Reiulto at Brandon — Incondusire. BuuUt a< Indian Feod— No adrantage waa shown by burning stubble. Rutdta a< Boethem— It is considered that buminf atubbla is oondudn to soil driftinf. Retultt at Scott— Suae remark as Rosthem. Stubbling in has firen best results at thia station. RetvlU at Laeombo and Lethbridgo— Burning stubble has reduced yields. Stubble Treatment for Wheal (Diteing after Harvett) Outline— Plot* disced after cuttinf and plongLcd either fall or spring an compared with plots which received no discing. RetuUt at Lethbridge—THieing befon faU ploughing gan increased yields. RetultM at Laeombe— Main advaatage from discing after harvest aeems to be in keying weeds in check. RetulU at 5eo«— Discing at cutting time has given increased yields, both with spring and fall ploughing. Result* at Indian Head—^o appreciable difference noted. Retultt at Brandon. — Inconclusive. Seeding to Orasa and Clover (With and without Nuree Crop) Ouaine—Tive plots are seeded after various cmpe with nurse crops and nve similar plota without nurse crops. RetulU at Lethbridge—S^ow that seeding juld be advocated. ReKulitat Lofomhe.-Seeding with nurse cr. . rcc buahola of wkaat par aora aura thaa plain •umn.er-fallow. Maaura appliod to land othar thaa aummar- fallow leara^ tha ground too open. XttuUt Jd 8eoH~-'BoUed aunora applied aa top draaaiag in ipring haa giraa no adraataga over ao manure. Ploughing under aithar in fall or ^riag gava iaoraaaad yMda orer top drMaing. In diatrioto of acanty praoi|>itatioa it ia eonaidarad adriaable to plough manure under, except when iHed to laaaaa aoil driftlag. S—uUt at Xaeomb*— Application of nunure gare increaiad yidda orar ao manura, and tha heat reault* from application of manure were ohuined whaa manure waa turned under very ihorUy after being applltid. Bemltt at Leme cTopa gave bettw reaults than others. For insUnce, peaa were found to b .jore uaeful than vetcbea in some cases, and dover was found beet of all. Otte what were the best practices to follow in connection with handling different crops, we then turned our attention to the establishing of sequence of crops, or crop rotations, on the prairies. No one know what was the best arrangement of crops. The common practice in Saskatchewan was summer-fallow — wheat — ^wheat or, if a man needed a few oats, summer-fallow — wheat — oats, or, if conditions were particularly favourable, he might possibly have summer-fallow — ^wheat — ^wheat — oats, making it a four-year, but, generally speaking, it was a three-year rotation. A three-year rotation or succession or crops was the one policy of the farmer. In Manitoba the three-year rotation was spun out one year longer in most cases, and is yet, I think; that is, summer-fallow — ^wheat — wheat — oats or barley, or sometimes the barley took the place of one of the wheat crops. This system had the effect, as might be expected, of very rapidly depleting the soil of fibre, and allowing the surface to blow away during periods of high winds. The soil would pile up around the fence, in the coulees or around the house, sometimes to the depth of seven or eight feet; many other injurious results also followed. We undertook some 32 different rotations on the prairie, the length of which was anywhere from one year, that is, wheat continuously (at Lethbridgp) up to tpn ypars. There was one case at Lethbridge where it was alfalfa continuously. We had a Iwo-year rotation also at Lethbridge. There were some three-year rotations, one IL ThrM-yMr Rotation soil. CON8ERVATIOX AND CROP PRODUCTION 21 of which WMu«!d at all the farm.. We hwl two four-year and one five-yew rotation in Manitoba; one or other «ix-year roUtioni on all the famu, there beu* some leren different six-year rotations in the whole system; we had one MTen-year rotation at Lacombe; two eight-year rotations, one at Indian Head, Bosthem and Scott and the other at Brandon; two nine-year rotations at all the farms except Brandon; and three ten-year rotations. I might discuss the different crops in some of these rotations. Rrtums^from ^ *" ^^* cultural methods, we had to fix values both for the RoUtlens returns and for the cost of operating, in order to make them comparable all over the prairies and from year to year. The one- year rotation was all wheat. Strange to say it has given, so far, a pretty satis- factory return in profit per acre; the average in eight years has been $6.77 (at the old fixed price of IJ cents a pound) over and above all cost of production and rental as well. The two-year return, which is also at Lethbridge, gave a fairly satisfactory profit of about $3.68. That was wheat— summer-fallow— wheat —summer-fallow. That might be expected to give, under average conditions, a good yield, but on account of the barren years, it very materially reduced the profit per acre from the farm. The three-year rotation, summer-fallow— wheat— wheat, one that is very commonly practised all over the prairies, was tried out at all the farms except at Brandon, and the returns were uniformly fairly good, so far as straight profits are concerned. At Indian Head it averaged about $5 per acre, including the year when there was no crop. In other words, $5 an acre for three years means that each wheat year had to have at least $7.60 profit, the fact of the matter being that wheat after summer-fallow gave $10 to $12, and the wheat after wheat a much smaller profit; the summer-faUow. of course, was a dead loss, and this must be deducted from the profit. At Rosthem this rotation gave a profit of nearly $7, at Scott $3.72, at Lacombe $4.77, and at Lethbridge $5.54. The returns at Scott in good years were satis- factory, in dry years very unsatisfactory. Four-Ysar ^"^ Brandon we tried out a four-year rotation, wheat— wheat- Rotation oats— summer-fallow, on two sets of plots; in one case we applied . ,, manure, in the other we did not. The manure applied did not pay for Itself the year applied, and has not shown that it has paid for itself yet, although it has been in effect five years, it is, however, rather too soon to conclude what wiU be the ultimate result. The profits are very low in both cases, about $2 with manure and about $3 without. While the manure increased the crop, the manure had to be paid for, which took away a lot of the profit. Of course, if the manure could not otherwise be sold it would be lost, so that the farmer may be said to have gained something for himself bv the sale of his manure. He had to haul it anyway. Fivs and Six ^ five-year rotation tried at Brandon, was wheat— wheat— com Ysar ' n>an"'«d— oat3 or barley seeded down— hay ploughed up in mid- Rotations summer. This and the next rotation have proved very satisfactory, J particularly the next one, a six-year rotation, wheat— wheat— oats or barley seeded down— hay— pasture ploughed up in midsummer— corn manured. That rotation has proved a most excellent one from many standpoints. It is a real six-^ear rotation. It does away with summer-fallow entirelv, com taking Us place, and the results have been very satisfactory indeed, in so faV as uniformly good crops are concerned. I visited this field on Monday (July 12) and can say that the wheat after corn is, I think, the best crop on the farm, in very many cases better than any wheat after summer-f.illow. C ofM. Jj fl^t i hij ^ profitable crop as a rule; we do not get much out of it, but It Hiiiiiti^ f^Ttw ' Itself. The crop harvested and stored, valued at fixed values (df $$: i ton; mora iivOM.MV t- I. i H [\ A K a COUMIBSION OF CONSERVATION than p«y» for the co»t of producing, whereas with bare gummer-fallow, auch •• is neceaukry to eradicate weed* and conserve moigture, the whole of the summer'g work would be loat, while the returns from the crop after the com is ju«t " good u after the •ummer-fallow, in fact a little better in tome caaes. This point is, I think, worthy of consideration at this meeting, and it is worth a tremendous lot to the province. Since the inception of that work up here many farmers in this province have undertaken the production of com, and in every case practically similar results have been secured. This proves, in my opmion, that there is very little or no need for gummer-fallow in this province (Manitoba), because a crop can be grown which will utilise the manure— which is another advantage com has over other crops, it will utilize manure profitably— conserve the moisture, free the land from weeds and increase the fibre. The inclusion of that crop brings out, or rather builds up, along all the lines we have mentioned, increases humus, conserres moisture, increases fertility by adding humus, utilizes manure and promotes freedom from weeds. That would seem to be a solution to the question here. Where com can be grown in this P»o^i°<« mangels certainly can, because, further north, where it is a little colder and frost comes a little earlier, maugels and turnips do quite as well as they do any- where else, and they have the same effect upon the soil, or practically the same effect. I have seen in this province, since we started this work, crops of com that would run 12 to 15 tons to the acre. We have had crops at; Brandon that went considerable over 12 tons; I do not know that it ever passed 16 tons, but large average crops and big crops can be produced and are produced in this province. We ripened our own seed last year at Brandon, and it looks as if we shall ripen it again this year. It has had an excellent start. Other jnx- year roUtions were tried at Brandon, with very satisfactory results. Another six-year rotation waa tried at Indian Head, Rotrthem and Scott, namely, summer-fallow— wheat— wheat— oata— hay— pasture. One little difficulty aroM in «eding down. When three years elapses after summer-faUow before seeding down difSculty is often experienced. Indian Head station reports that this rotation is not satisfactory, as a oatch of hay is seldom secured on accoimt of seeding down so far from fallow. At the Scott station this has proved the most satisfactory rotation, there has been no damage from soil drifting and good catches of grass every year. The two other six-year rotations are in Lacombe. We have not nearly as much trouble in seeding down at Lacombe, which makes it very easy to increase the fibre and retain the moisture in that district. We had also a six-year rotation at Letihbridge, beinjj summer-fallow— wheat— coarse grain (manured in fall)— summer-faUow— peas and oats for hay— barley or oats, two summer-fallows in six years. The profit from the six years on the average was $3.68, that is, over a period of eight years and includes the very dry year of 1914 and last year, which, I suppose, was the next driest A seven-year rotation is followed at Lacoiiibe, with very satis- 3«ven-y«ar factory results, giving as high as $9 an acre profit. Hoed crop — Rotation ^heat— oats— summer-fallow— barley— hky— pasture. We have at Lacombe also a six-year rotation, which has proved highly satisfactory, and which we are using on the fields there as our standard rotation. It is hay— pasture (manured)— pasture— green feed— oats and barley seeded down. There is no wheat LaconAe is the centre of a great livestock district; this rotation is highly suiUble for requirements there, and we have followed it for some eight years now. It is having the effect of supplying us with an abundance of feed, increasing the crop-producing power of Iftie farm, and of cleaning it from weeds. It is, so Jar as the effect upon the farm is concerned, a ^^erfect rot*tion, and there' are some hundreds of acres under it It is not a perfect rotation, b'> far as the wheat exporter or elevator man is concerned, but it is the rotation that suits aOIL CONSERVATION AND CROP PRODUCTION US and therefore, thoold luii many of the farmer* in that diatrict. Theae rota- tiona, aa I have ahown, have given profita of from |3 to $8 or $8 an acre. At Lethforidge we haTe a couple of rotationa under irrisation. Theae, compared with the dry land rotationa, make the aboTe profits look rery meagre, as the net profit iper acre, over and above every item of coat, ia somewhere in the neigh- bouihood of $46 each year. We cannot, of course, introduce water all orer theae prairies, so we have to take things aa we get them and leave irrigation rotations to those who live in an area where irrigation is availaUo. The wifaols question of crop rotations and cultural methods is, aa you aee^ covered, more or less, in the field of work we have undertaken, and we have now the resulto of eight years of operation. At Brandon we have results for a bnger period, because Mr. Murray and mysdf planned out some work there in 1908 when Mr. Murray came. The resulto at Brandon are, therafore, older, and the rotations better estnUished, and we know pretty well tbe crop rotation beat suited to this province, or at leasM: to that portion of the province comparable to Brandon. The work is one which must be taken up. I xeel, by every college and illustration station, as well as by the experimental farms. Thia might be called the pio eer of experimental work. The resuhs secured may not be final; in fact, I ehould be astonished if they were in connection with most of the work, but they give us something to base our criticisms on, something to build on or atudy when preparing for new work. They are baaet on experimento from eyery prov- ince, over a good period of time. I trust that when time is afforded to discuss this matter that you will not hesitete to criticise as severely as you wish, particidarly as by this means many new suggestions and valuable information may be secured from the technical and practical men present The Chaibhan: Dr. Griadale, you spoke of the deetruction of stuMJe by burning. WouH the burning have any compensating serrioe in destroying weeda! Dr. Orisdale: Slightly, but not of material benefit It passes over so quickly, it does not seem to hurt the seed. The CHAiRif AN : Did the green manuring experiments include sweet clover at all? Dr. Orisdale: No, we did not include it in the experinni a, but we are growing it on the farms and it may take the place of the r present evolutionary system of farming. It is a winter annual, a very lig growing cri , -.iarts early in the spring, and gives pasture and hay of a .ei-y palatable qualiiy. ■l:'l M COMMISaiON or CONBBRVATION Corn ud •imfiowert may be niad •imikriy to wiato. rje. 8«W in .toip. on the fidlow in July they grow quickly end^ord '|«»»».»;«*»";\2» 'Si WhiT renuOn. of the ttelkt wiU hold mow durinc the mntw "d »wed^ Jj* J^ blow the following .princ. wh« wheet nmy be jieded "though A. !uZ^ not pieeent The knd unong the com or mnfiowcw wiU be pedwd luSJflmay by St«U; whm Mwn it WiU turn up co««. md ^^ Sereforeblow IcM M«iily. The itript of wil brtwcen mU alw bo 1«. atfeoted S^^S, EiS^ of thL crop, nuy be «wn « . mbetitute or a ^^^ tote fo/Se fellow, tmpeeitOj on wil. .ubject to drifting, thui proTiding much SSuVie or .So ^3. Sunflower, giro «,l«»did promiee .. . .ilege crop, for the maintenMice of live stock. Sweet clover may be utilized in qnite the ume mmner m tito Dreutht aforementioned crops. It has the advantage, h"'^*^*^'- °^°!'"» HardUM of 1 . It „ay beet be seeded in 80 to ?6-.nch rows. Seeded in •w..t Clover ^^^^ ^^ .ummer-fallow, it grow, rapidly, and produce, a growth of 8 to 16 inche. by fall. Thi. growth i. capable of P^^^.^« fj^ d^ing the winter and early .pring. while a quick »«Tf™^ .^"^^'J'!^! frction during the early sununer. Wheat i. wwn *>rtw«en the steip. of .weet ctovi SwS^loTcr may be cut in July to supply much needed ^M" •'V^' Sl^ ^ of Wertem^ada. It. drought hardinew. m contraat with most "^"TiS'^^th^^'^'A^'-^ will oj. a P--tecra'rwL*^ p.b|rf.;»i*.^^nd;;^b^ ''''f ^t.^L hS M^^teSii work, however, remains to be done in make into good hay. *°<'° ^?''~7T^, . A„. Sweet clover promises much, producing e-- ^»«' ^"^bS « r^'lCr"^^^^^^^^ the advantage over not only as a forage plant, but a. a ""^ ™P . , ^Y^^ ^^ rfcher in brome grass in that it is a legume^ and tW^. J^^^^J^'''^^^^ ,„„t fibre, nitrogen than does brome grass. -Ithoi^h the latter P'°«*^ ^^^ ^,„, ,, „ ^S:;l^^Z:^:^ZX^^ ^or stock from which manure for further improving the soil ""^y ^^^'^_ Summarizing the above thoughts, they are. (1) Evolutionary methods of topping will be r^juired to sohe present founded, must be maintained. g^^. CHOICB OF CROPS AND SOIL PRODUCTI VENK88 37 There are ar««e in ■oatheutem Alberta and loathweitem Saakatehaiwan, incapable of being irrigated, upon which it would Mon unwise to try to ootitiniM to grow cropa. With limited rainfall, and prerailing conditionk of aoil drifting and weedf , the task of applying the methods outlined in this paper ii insuperable, and entirely impracticable. I will aco further and state that, in my opinion, no method of onppiag ia poiiibi* ai^ pio&table under thaae SKtrcme ooaditions of climate. There is only one reeounwb namely, reclamation. Er;enaiTe reclama- tion experiments should be inaugurated et once, whereby these large tracts may be economically returned to grass for grazing. Our governments will hsTC to face this problem at an early date, and thus conserre much human material that will otherwise soon migrate. Cropping Systems for Drought AreM ii OenMTvation •f Und • Public Duty BT Paor. JoHx Braokbh Pre$ideni, ManUoha Agriculiural Cotttge T T h« been . ple.iure to me to be here «nd to liften to the rery T.lu.ble I paper. th.t have been pre«mted. It i. the fi»t time I h.Te erw h^ h. ■DriTileaTof attending a •e.iion of the CoMerration CommiMion, and if the SZXt. W likeV I .m .are they mjut hare b^ of very l^t^mo. to Sjiada. I wa. pleased ye.terday to hear the Deputy Head of the CommiMion SJiTTrtatLe" before the BoUry Club, to the efeot that the faction rf STcom^-ion w.. not to derelop our resouroe. at the «pen« oiti^J^t^r^ ^r to retard present deyelopment for the «Ae of the future, but rather to develop our resources to the utmost without wasting them. That is a motto that many of our public institutions might adopt. There are no resources that lend themselves to derelopment and conservation at the same time to the same extent as our agri- cultural teKunxa ; and while this is a function of the Commission, I think it well to emphasize the fact that, if left to indivMual mitiatir^ A^ problem of development and the problem of ~»«*7'«1»«» *«\t *» ,f "•^''^ Siemmslve* A farLr on the Portage pkin. or in the Qu'Appdle valley, orin the Moosejaw district, finds it profitable, under favourable conditions to grow wheat. As an individual he finds it returns him an »«««!'»»• P"*'''»»»J**" is no getting away from the fact that he is growing that wheat at the expense of ?he^Khat. while he individually may make a profit the sUte is the lo^r In other words, in the way that our society is organized at the P'^f *'"»?» » not necessarily the business of the individual to be concerned about the future of the state; it is rather the business of the state to conserve its own future. Hence we realize the great need for encouraging such organizations as that holding this conference to-day. Coming to my subject "Cropping Systems for Drought Areas. I would like to define the terms used, in order that you may not misunderstand anything I may say. A drought area may be defined in any one of a number of ways. It may apply (1) to an area of low average precipitation; (2) to regions having widTvarUtiLs from average precipitation; (8) to climates where Uien, is a wide departure from the normal time at which ram usual^ comes; (4) to zones Laving a high evaporation, or (5) to areas where warm winds are common, in W«tem CMiada, at the eastern boundary of Manitoba, the precipitaUon is nearly 22 inches, but it steadily decreases, westward, until the boundary between ^berta and Saskatchewan is reached. The precipitation in the ^>cmity of Medicine Hat is 13 inches, and west of that point it increases slowly but gradu- aUy until the Rocky mountains are reached where, in parts of the high foothilU, there is 30 inches or more. It seems fairly well established that the variations, both with Variations in respect to amount and monthly distributions of rainfaU, are PrscipiUtlen g^^^^j j^ the westr-n provinces than in Manitoba, and there is some evidence that these variatiot -crease gradually from eastern Manitoba to western Alberta. CROPPING BTSTEMB FOR DROUGHT AREAS Profewor Hopkiiu, in hU analjriit of th« pnoipiution daU for portiont of WMtorti Canada, hai pointed out that the eraporation it very much higher in tome leetioni of southern Alberta than it it in die northern part. A drought area may be one that ii subjected to hot winds, consequently the flgnrM for precipitation are of little use unless with them is considered the amount of moisture tucked up by the hot winds. In southern Alberta a warm wind, known as the Chinook, sometimes passes orer the land; when the crop is two or three feet high, it may be seriouily injured as a result. The drought area of tlie western proTinoes, or rither the dryest area, may be dirided roughly into three parts; namely, (1) the Chinook area in southern Alberta, and southwestern Saskatchewan, perhaps bounded on the north rather closely by the South Saskatchewan river and on the east and west by the line of 15 inches rainfall; (8) the open prairie part north of the Chinook belt and south of the park belt, and (8) the park belt. I shall not refer to cropping ayttemt in the park belt, but will confine myself to a discussion of cropping systems in the other areas mentioned. Cropi^Dg systems for drotight areas imply a knowledge of two ^?sms' things, (1) the crops that are most suitable, and (3) the system, or rotation, or order, of cropping that is best. I will only touch upon a few of the fundamental factors: The cash crops ai» the cereals and flax — ^wheat in the south, oats and barley in the north, flax on breaking and heavy soil, and rye on light or drifting soil. The best annual hay and pasture crops are the cereals and millet, and, for tome classes of stock, rapo; rnnon^ biennials, winter rye and sweet clover, and among perennials western rye grass, brome grass and alfalfa. Among the fodder crops, com in the south and on the worn soils, and sun- flowers in the south and also in the north, because they require less heat and yield much more than corn. Auiong the silage crops there are three, corn, sunflower, and oats. Any other crop that grows may be put in a silo, but few make as good silage as those I have mentioned; they will all make feed, and all help to carry animals over a time of drought, such as we have had in many parts during the last three or four years. The crops adapted to the conservation of the soil may be divided into three groups. The first includes those that use the least moisture and which may to a certain degree replace the summer^fallow. These are com and other intertilled crops, such ae rape and potatoes, or cereals sown in triple rows with a wide space between each three rows. A second group of crope, including the perennial grasses, adds fibre to the soil, and a third, the legumes, not only adds organic matter, but nitrogen, to the soil. In the early years men came in to the dry region, broke up land and Mwed flax or oats, or some other crop on it the year the breaking was done. This resulted in frequent failures, and the practice has almost ceased; some new people coming in still try it. with the same result. The practice now it to break land one year and sow it the next; this givee an opportunity to get some of one year's precipitation into the land and conserve it there for the use of the next year's crop. In our teste at Saskatchewan we found that every week's delay in breaking after June 10 decreased the yield one bushel per acre; in other words, if a piece of land wan bn^en on June 10 it mit^t yield 30 bushels to the acre; if an adjoining piece were broken in October it would yield 15 bushels; or, in a year that June breaking would give !<'> bushele, spring breaking will fail to produce a crop. In preparing stubble land for sowing, in the early years before weeds got established on the land, the common practice was to stubble in the crop. The Tims for Brsaking Land Varying EflMto •! tummar* lallaw M C01fltt««10W OF C0K»I!I.VAT10M lon««r the prmotioe wu c«ri«i on. howerer. tl>« mote w«jdt got i'>*»,^J'»^/;»J r?Mrolt £arm«. haw Iwd to clumge their plue. Under dry oondUton^ where AereTrli^S predplUtion in the Idl, H«in« pJooghlng h- b««i found to S'rbiirrelSu S« fdl plougUng. In the B«l BiTer Tdley feU ploughing {• the common role end generally the hert praoUoe. The .nmrner-fallow. with all iU faidt^ hM heen and .tiU U^ moet importwit farm practice in the dry region. I» ^"^ •dyantagM, and haa piobaWy been the chief cauae of the dewtop^ ^TTSe dry laid, in weatem 8"»»*^" J^"** '2'^^ AlberU. ItrtoreaandoonaerT«moirture.kilUweBd.andniakee plant food a.«lahl^n the «U - .ear ^r^^ rn°l.".t 3"^^ ^^ - a "''?nt%!??Xtr?wo .erlou. di-dvantage... andj.e«=d^ weU^u^r the Sv thought of thi. conference for a few minntee. ^*^ ^ »^ pwfiiwe derelopment of our dry fanna; but it. .nev.table "-^^ P^"* '^ J« Eon of redW return,, soil depletion and land J^-^'^^^'l^l Jj tSnlne- of thi. rt.tement is in the thousands of acres that hare been U*t Z^iZ Sm^, n» a direct laeuit of inter«iiTe cultivation and the on^«^p IS oHarming It decreases returns. The figim» quoted by Dr. F. T. S^t^ Smfnion SSt. on teets of «.il taken from Portage JJ'^Yg^^J^^'^ ^d two of the best soil types in Western Canada, show that after 23 ye"*-"- S^'atd niiTsummer-fallow^ne-third of the organic matter and one-third of the nitrosen in the top soil has been lost . miTkto be done Aout it» AU we can do is to get P«f«»«7* !j^^^«*^ regaS our cUmate. our soil and what is happening here, and adapt our system of farming to the conditions that obtain. What are the facts! I would like to ^P^'^^.^l^ ^^^ to you, and then try to answer this question. The first essenba' 2£ to note is. that moisture is the limiUng ^ «=»!«; ^ ^^ y^^^^' wHannot get away from that So long as inoisture J^m'ts the Jl; t r^JShrSi .U,„ link. W. b.™ to .tt«,»to. th. « J. on- ««. S"i",^..TtsiMn.':i» J™ .»-k.« 0. *. moi.»» «». we store and ooneerre in the soil Moisture ths Limiting Factor In Crop Ylslds CROPPING ■TBTBMS FOR DROUGHT AREAS ai •gw utTiii* NItrogtn Another fact it this, that the pneipiution Tiriat ▼•ry Urgtljr n?****lkf i?' ''*"" ^**' *" y**' ""^ '"'^ Muon to MHon, and baeana* of that OmT ** "^'l ^^* *o ^▼•ni<7 our erofviiic tTiteni. It haa baan ^^ ooiBtad ovt and aKovld ba anpiwiiaad hara, that Waatam Canada it, int and foraoioat. a oeraal>prodiiein« eonntry; ooeaaionally tha preeipiution eoniM in the early part of the aeaMii, with the re«uU that oereaU partly or wholly fail By divarai^nff omr eroppinit ayatam we can radnoa thia riik. I would lika to take time to diaeuaa tha point further, but tii^a forbida. I will lay. howarer. that beeauaa of tome rain we had at Saakatoon laat year, we hare now (Auguat) certain eropa which are not a failure, and beeauae of the lack of rain thia year our oaraal cropa are a partial failure; in addition, if we haTe any late summer rains, our oom, atmflowara, potatoaa and sweet eloTer and millet will make a food crop. Amonf the Ifsiitinff factora of orop production moiature !a the first. The second thing that will limit tha crop yield in dry re«iona is organic nutter. The third factor that will limit tha yield ia nitrogen. There are aerenteen million pounda of nitrogen in the air over every acre. If we can find and grow a legume crop suitable to our conditions, we can draw upon that aerenteen million pounds and grow fifty- bushel eropa every year for a million years, so far as nitrogen ii; concerned, and if we do not grow legumes, we cannot use that store of fertility. The fourth factor that will limit the yield on the normal soils of this area will be plant food in the form of phosphorus. In attempting to anawer this question, I would say that the first thing that should be done in Western Canada— I am speaking now particularly of the western part of our dry area— is to make use of the water that is at preaent lost in our streams, by the greater deTelopment of irrigation. Water is the measure of the wealth of that region, and the water that runs away in atreama to Hudson bay is a measure of our lost opportunities. Another point is that we must help to brini? about a classi- fication of our lands. Some of the speakera here have said that in their opinira some of these dry landa are not auited to the system that is being followed. Many will agree with them. There are some that do not. In my opinion it is altoKether a matter of adjustment. I do not think that a man can make a living on a quarter section or even on a half section there; but I am quite sure he nan make a living if he gets enough land and adapts his system of farming to the rainfall conditiona that exist. This is a problem in farm management. It is a problem that the Government, through iu experiment stations, can help to solve. In parts of western Nebraska men left the land a few years ago, but they went back again after some years, and, instead of trj-ing to make a living on a quarter or a half section, they took up larger areas. In some parts of that state they have two or three sections, they are making money and have happy and contented families. What they have done there we can do here, if we apply ourselves to the problem. In some parte of our dry region we shall need to use waste land Community ^gf pasture, the large areaa for community pasture and the as urss gmaller areas for private paatures. Let me also add, in passing, that we should manage, this pasture land more intelligently than we have ever done before. Pasturing this land late in the fall reaulta in its almost complete failure for pasture purposes in just a few years. In the I' ' region we thell need to have one field in perennial crops. We have heard ( the difficulty of growing grasses. There are difficulties in growing grasses in that regrion, and they cannot get a good stand every year, but, having Irrigation Whsrs Posslbis ooMMiaaioif or cowaBiivATioif Llv« MMk p«t a Md vadm gitm, • aui ilKmid aot biMk it ap notil ha gtto anotlMr Mtab* lUkad. If ha aaaaot m il artibHilw^ om y«ar ha auj tha mmt tad if aol tha MBt ymt. tha jraar fbUoviac. Ha awt hava ont yaar in fallow or a faUov •akaUtalak Maajr of tha lattor hava ba«i MMtlonad; ooia i« good if plaatad far apart in wida revs; potato land givaa a fair ratora; earaah iowb ia tripla rowa laavinc a apaoa of thiw foat botwaan aach Mt i« bainc trtwL Tharo it ioHMdiata aaad of kaowinc tha BMot aaitabla oaah eropo to grow on tha faUow, aa that ia tha piaoa to grow tha oaah orop. For oaeh aoU tjpa thara ia oaa eaah orop BK>ra raitaUa than any othar. Wa ara faat gaiaing iaforauition to ahow va which it tha baat undn tha dlflorant oonditiona. Until tha land ttartt to blow, or until it ihowa iobm aridtooa of deoraatiag yiald, a taeond oath crop may ba ntad in tha rotation in thaaa anaa, but toooer or later it will ba found that a atoond caah orop will not pay. Wl» would than hara (1) a fallow with diffarant aubttitutei on oartain parti of it; (9) the caah erop; (3) under farourabla eonditiont, a lacond eaah orop and a legnma erop, or tha paraonial hay Md, or both. Wa ncad alto to adjust the site of the farm to the rainfall. We ahoiUd aodaarour to make lira atook pay aipenaat, by atiliiing tha watto product* and tiie by-product* of tlie pretent grain lyitem and by utiliiing tha forage cropa neoaaaary to main- tain toil produetireneti. We do not think that a live stock system of farming should ba built up there without having a cash crop in it. We should get away from soma of the bad thaoriea of the past and look at faott with unprejudioad ayet. Then wa should take a leaton from tha paget of history. Thara ara yeart in that part of Western Canada when in spite of anything that a man may do, oaraal oropa will fail. Wa might at wall accept the truth, becauaa it ia a fact, and wa mutt know the truth if we are to plan to meet those conditions. Wa can only meet them by saving something from tha fat years for use in tha lean years. That waa done thousanda of years ago . \>\ v ' an du it xfoin. Joseph had one bushel out of t«v«n put by at a reaerve. Some may say that we have not had fat years, but we do have fat years. We require to save feed; to save seed; to save straw; to save money, and one tima I found an experimental station in Colorado actually and successfully advocating the uae of what thay call a reserve silo. A man puto up one silo, which it enough to feed his stock. Thssi he starta another, and, when they get enough forage in a good year, fills the second one and keepa it for uae in a short aeason. The silage will keep, and when it is thus saved a man has something to carry his stock over a period of drought; consequently, instead of sacrificing his herd, and having to start over again with a big expenditure, he is able to carry on. AdmtagM and Fntu of 9ytt«iiMtic Crop Rotattoot n W. C. lloKiU4c*ii ««»«*M«i*iU. MmpnimnM Farm, Brmndon, Mm. I "l- Airs i^J H°^W ilTJ!!*' "ir »^' •"'-"^ <^ »>'• P-P-' on-ai^S^! """ ''^'^ "*'•''• »^« ~" ««^1««»'' incid«.t U, con.Unt "A jrond rotation rf.ouM include .t lea.t en, of etch of the foUowin,- the nock" m1^tnrorS;ni ^rSri.^^^^ "" -""•'» rotation «.u.t provide . .ub.tituto in U.*. fon^TJ^^TaJuL'"" '"""'°~* .p an,^H^x.r^~^t inir^rxr :'t str f'.-^ •^'^ •'-"^ storing group, of planto. 'oution at least one of the nitrogen- " The rotation, uhder teat at Brandon include the follow, j type.- 1. Straight grain growing. -. Ji«» "2. Grain growing plu. hay crop. "3. Grain growing plu. hay and hoed crop. J ^^ yearn, a typical rotation of the third group excek the fim by 75 per 14W8— 8 34 COMMISSION OF CONSERVATION "Some of the met .triking fact, in regard to crop .equence f«>m crop rotation work are: — «1 The irreat value of cora ae a preparation for gram cropa. "Th. IS^M of gra-e. and clover, .hould follow com or '^rnw^^^^h^' " The aeeamg or ^"T" "", .v„. .„ the Kreater the chance of failure. Tho more intervening grain crops there are, tne gr«i« « 8 Wheat is the moat profitable crop after fallow or corn. "4. TaTsl grain* are more profitable than wheat as second c«.p after fallow or corn. „...«. "6 Wheat makes a aatisfactory nurse crop for grasses. «« I^dd r^are much lees effective than corn as a preparatory crop for g^^in^and tuXlrs^^ewhat le« effective, though bet^r than roots. •^ Speayng on his own behalf M.R^<^nt.^^^^^^^^ ^^.^^ ^^^,,, Systematic rotations properly adapted *° |''°"' .^^'"' ° jf . -ood system and labour are the foundation of »" P?™«^^f ^ie S'ming mefhods et the „f crop rotations had been ^-'^^^'^'^'^'^'JZ^^^S^oi weed control be^nning we -bouW -^ J- ^^^ -' w'^ hrve'not Kted proper crop rota- and soil drifting, f**""^ ** *j' ?'r..^eir system of farming is not permanent, tions are commencmg to ^f J/* :''«'' so" drifting is annually taking away but subject to very frequent change, ae sou «""> » ^^ neighbours. It is their most fertile land or ^n°«'«f *^^«"» '^.i: jf ^^^^^ H applie. in two a hackneyed phrase to '"'\Z' ^ZTh^^ioTyZ. been taking everything ways. Too many fanners, like "^*"J^' .^^^^^ v ' f jt has been said that, in possible out of the soil a^d P^^^'^J^J^^^^f „7jty,"e holes in the ground. fining, for every P-fi';^'^,.'^^;^^ X^^^^ t- been very bad during ^htlitTeTyelnire™ tT:2^ to find that they may end up with rc-rmlTr: al^monrUlf- -eS Lch less than the e^tra methods in tho we.r has been dwelt »P°"'/,^JJ >"*dfff^^ent f ams lu different we have had >^-- ^J °XtK Mr McKiUicaf L " in favour of a rota- parts of the P"'"«- ^^J^**^^^^^^^^ experience of twenty-one years in ion is correct, as far as 1 know "°" ."^ . r^ nxnerimental and other farms, oonducting this ^-d <>£ w^'^^ -j^nTe J C aSTed. as the best kind of from observation and from all 1 ^»" "r"- ^ ^ ^ ^ould seem to be evidence would seem to indicate, that ^^f,?^ fJ^^^'J^ ,t or longer to delay little short of idiocy for a ^^'^'''^^.^^^^l^l^Xrmt Isay suUahle. Nearly putting into effect some ^"''«W« 'f„V "rotetfon or s^^m. ^use the majority ill farmers are following some kind of a ^■'<**;°" °'f r^;„ j^^^e a bad scheme, ore more or le.s systematic. '"^°;^\"-*;^^;,S ^ good rotation, bad rotation. What we want to get f *J^<^,?^'=f„.'*^^;^, jy t^^ besTon another and what is a good rotation on one « ?_"« " "°* .''^if.'Je on trial on our experi- That we appreciate this, is ^1'°''" ^J *^^^ ^ ^UtTons Of the rotation in the mental farms in the west """^^ .^'"'"If °**Jj°3 j. the one that might best r-t' Si-^Vin M^^f^rXlt^rofXpr^P^^^^^^^ evenW ^orratd from t^Ha'tl ^-dary to the western I have e^u^ tned^ almos; all part, of that district '"^amtoba, an^^^^^^ a^ include, 1 ;rit%ro:r::£ss\?tiit: trs::^di;r^eTrHiirto^: far beyond summer ADVANTAOBS AND PROFITS OF CROP ROTATIONS fallow, or comes a little too slowly after the hoed crop, or substitute for summer- fallow. This is a difiBculty, no doubt, but it is just questionable if we would be making any improvement by putting it closer up to the hoed orop. It would mean the losing of some grain-producing powers of the rotation and necessitate bare fallow or another hoed crop of some kind in the operation of the rotation. At Brandon, three times out of four we have had a catch. 1 am familiar with the results there year by yo.sr . \ •CT>ting last year, and only once in five or six have we had any trouble f !»ii, iinJ nevc- until last year did we have a complete failure. This year, • uoos not look v r; promising. We can, if the catch fails use something to of ;'» ',re failur.>. U will not be so satisfactory, but it wiU give a crop of hay oi pas'urc with a 1 ttle more work and with a little less satis- factory results; neve, -i- -. H -vouM keep the rotation t'oing, and, as I said, since we are safe in saying that toi three-fourths of the time, if not more, it will be absolutely all right, I think it is the best thing to do. I think with Mr. McKilliean that that rotation should not change; Mr. Murray, with whom that rotation started, is also of the same opinion. That old rotation, slightly modified but practically the same, has been used there for eleven or twelve years. When ii rotation has been tried out that long, and when the two men who have had aost to do with it are agreed that it is probably the best thing that could b< devised, there can be no question of it and we would be ill-advised to think of changing. It is important, in spite of the progress that has been made in this countrv towards the introduction of live stock, to produce nevertheless large quantitie-^ of grain. The cash crop is very important. It is not enough to have a fairl.v assured revenue from live stock; if we are going to make farming profitable, we must have cash crops, and the natural cash crop of this country is wheat, or grain, and in any rotation that is likely to be satisfactory, you must have some good cash crop surely coming on. We have provided for this in practically even' rotation that is under way on the experimental system in the west, with th- exception of one or two at Lacombe, where what might be called strictly oasl fTops hardly enter. We grow oats and barley, but do not expect to sell the grain : ;n fact, no more grain is produced on the main rotation than is sufficient t." carry the stock. There is no cash crop in that rotation. It is essentially for the live stock man, and might be advisedly followed by farmers where live stock is. the principal object in view— the keeping of the animals in good shape aiK^ getting all you can out of them and the keeping of as many iis possible on ii given area. Now if you will review mentally or when the opportunity occur- go over the rotations previously discussed*, you will notice that every one provides a fairly good proportion of cash crops. They are not all equally satis- factory, and should be considered individually Maintaining the farm in a condition free from weeds and keeping th( moisture-holding power of the land a.s high as possible are of primary importance. Mr. Hopkins has said that moisture was the most important. A rotation that is satisfactory makes preparations both by getting the soil into right shap<' and, by cultural methods, to hold that moi.stiire as well as it po.ssibly caii be lidd. by storing all the moisture available. Land in bad shape, unless it lies in a ver> special way, will shed a lot of moisture; land in the right shape will absorb it. and, while it may escape in spite of everything you may do, the more it receives the longer it takes to get nway; hence a good rotation makes every preparation for the reception and retention of all possible moisture That is another point we have attempted to follow in the various rotations. Rotation J, which was mentioned by myself yesterday* (and later by Professor Harrison,t) is in use on all our farms, namely, fallow— wheat— wheat— ' • ESxperlmenUl Crop RoUtions, p. SO. t Place of Graaa In RoMtfon, p. 6°? "°" "^XTo tLTwe hare miceeeded in «ed.ag although it U aatonirfung the »«™»>«/^ I^ed upon it at Brandon it was down in that rotation. ^« ^Jjf it t^JL afa^^Sx^rful in the ceding going to be troublesome, if indeed, »V°r*^ * , vj.^ ^^ h»,e only missed K but in the eight year, it h«» been mrfec^I^^ ^^ three of getting a decent catch. *?^* '^^'J^Sl^Tsoott and Boethem. Indian Head, particukrly. it has ^^^^.'^'"^"^^^o or three times we have where it i. also in rf*'"?- ^^ ^^L W ^S^ At Scott it was not sati.^ been haUed out and the ^1»1« ^^^^^^T, o^fidd that has been seeded do.^ f «5tory one year, but «nce we ^''l^^^^^ ^" ^^ion. The rotations where we know jurt exactly how .«jf J^'' ^^„^UoThave this advantage: where the seeding down « done right af^summeMaUo ^^^ ^^ ^ ^^^ a man has Uve stock on a ^"^ ^^^'"t^^the seeding down is do^ xmme- along on a rotation. ^>^%\Z i^i^l^<^^ be done best, of course, diately after tiie '-'^^ ^^^^^v^ni. Since the chances of without a nurse crop, but that « e^^t'' ^J^t i, JZ> considering seeding down failureare probably only 10i^c«^torl«e,it«no ^ ^^^ ^^^ ^ without a nuwe crop immediately after laiiow. so entirely eUmimited in any cK>p rotation^ eoneervation of the fertility and Another advantage in c«,p "'^^'^''J.^^^^tent of the soil. By the the maintenance, if not ««/'Tr„*^me cli^veTSause in this five-year very fact of these grasses ("^-^JV^r^rSd). being seeded down, the fibre rotation clover rather than P^'^^^f^'^^if the «.il is certainly improved, content ia increaeed and the ^^^^^^^^^^.l^^rohMy six or seven years In the fiv^year rotation at B^ndo'ijl^^ W o'r^ we'have. ^^.^^ .^ ^, been better than anywhere else^ , „^^^^ed this fibre-producing crop prepara- very largely to the ^^V*''^*^:,'^^^^^^!-* - o^'" «»"*'' '^ Tt tory to the wheat, and that it ^" "^^ j^^ter now than it was when that the amount of »«^"^^*^,f t^^M^gL of the soil to show that this rotation was incepted^e have no care ^^^ than it used to bo. is the case, but everytihing ^^.^''J^^ to hold the moisture nearly so Similar land adjoaning or nearby do« °«t ^ ^ ^^^ ^^t more r< len- til. It is a fa^y.fi-^ST C*"^^' '^^ be due to ti. increase in tive than the adjoining fieWB. ^^J^"^^^ spares wisely for tiie gram 7XrS^ r grSiCrrsoS^Ar as fertility . concerned and so far as n«isture is -^^^^ ,, things in the crop- Moisture, fibre and ^^'^^l^^yj^theT three moisture is the greatest, and producing problem of the west, and of th^ three m i, the most I thiak we have made every PJ^"*^'^; *3, „„ these prairies, the Intro- important change or step in prog«J«on -^ ^^^j; J^\ ., j/. ..^ one. What auction of a better rotation. We *»'« « '"^^ ^ ^^ endeavouring to .e want to do U to adopt a ^'"^^^^ ^^l^J^l ^eTthat change, if we could ««ure at this conservation m«^^. J -^^^^ ^^ ^^^ ,„^ get the farmers m this f''"?^ ^''^^"J.^.y^, in the eastam part of these '^l':ZZ^X:^r:L^^T:rJ:. cL, and -Uo get them considering ..DVANTAOES AND PROFITS OF CROP ROTATIONS 37 all the poMibilities of a hoed or cultivated crop, we should have done more for agriculture in these provinces than any other oonvention or meeting of men hat ever done in the history of the prairie. Prof. E. S. HopxofB (Olds. Alta.): I would like to say a few words on crop rotation sad crop systems. The farmers in certain portions of the oountr? are undoubtedly in a very serious financial condition, and unless something is done, in the way of experimental work or otherwise, to help solve their difficul- ties, they are going to be ruined. Farming is a business, and if a maa puts several thousand dollars into a farm, he wants to know where he is going to get out. Under the agreement of sale system of purchasing land in the west, if a person makes a deposit on the land, sad the crop fails, he loses out If, for the dry areas of Alberta and Satkatchewan and to some extent in Manitoba, we have no scheme evolved to enable these men to farm that land properly, it means enormous loas. We certainly need far more extensive experimental work than we have yet done. Extension work is very good, and teaching work is very good, but we cannot teach and we cannot extend what we do not know, and we do not know how to handle land in those sections profitably. We have some idea, but we do not know, and I wish to emphasize the urgent need of more experimental work along the line of crop rotation and crop production, in order that we may obtain information that will enable farmers to make more money on their farms. The Chairman: Even if and when we do know enough, how is that going to move the ordinary farmer, who ia not in the way of knowing as we are I Supposing one hundred men or a thousand men in any one of these provinces did know what was necessary to meet present conditions, what about the hundred thousand other farmers who are not in the way of getting, or even having, the knowledge, or are without a background of experience to guide them in applying it! There is a big gap, the bridging over of which we must be continually thinking of, so that the average man will be able, willing, and have the desire to put the best kn- "j into practice on his farm. More experimental work is necessary, as ai,'. -ttion farms. Mr. Mabnoc. I been said that in certain areas there is not any chance of getting irrigat: .», and men are moving out; it was also indicated that the remaining men might be taken care of by making the holdings more extensive. Before encouraging these men to go into live stock at all, we will require to fiini out about the waters under the earth, if water is not available on the surface, for the sustenance of the live stock. We had a geological survey made nf i\ considerable portion of southern Alberta, and found an area of about 500 square miles underlain with waters flowing over sandstone into the Milk river. Since that discovery, some 17 artesian wells have been put down. If a similar geolo- gical survey has not been made in Saskatchewan, and if water is not readily available near the rface by ordinary well-drilling, it might be well, as a pre- liminary step, tc >.,^e a geological survey now. From our experience of the past this suggestion is worth following up. It is eridr- ly running in all our minds tliat somethinK should be done about these men, t. ,alk with them and find out their attitude of mind. There are some amongst them who are more or less co.ntent to take things as they are. but there are others who should be encouraged, and who have sufficient energy to get out and do something for themselves, if the way were indicated to them. Some of these men have established themselves, and do not want to leave, and it would be necessary to find which among them would best succeed with live stock holdings. These are men who would make most excellent citiEens with jiigt a little help and guidance during these trying years. Others would have to be encouraged and ways opened up for them, and, possibly, be guided to some other place to earn a livelihood. Whether, indeed, some of them should stay on a 38 COMMISSION OF CONSERVATION Ur^ .t an. or Wiethe, i^ can ^J-fJ,-jT^Z':TZrlZ that could be financed, because ^\*°";*^ ""^J m"ht meet with better »ucceM. of suitable land for »^'^'"- ;2"%t^rn» corderation of hi. conf«ence are matter, which are f^^'tlfd *» ^^^ Tf further experimental work it lia. been The Ohaibmau : In this matter of ^""^'^^ appointed to oonaider this suggested, and I want to propose, ^''f "^^^^'^^^tXTdTi not. to .ugg«t ,^tion. whether all the '«'-'^«'^^Vork now S done ^uld be co-ordinated how they could be covered and »^oj^« ^^J^'^"^ ha^pleaaure in proposing that so a. to briuK the bert reault. '^f^iJ^t^^J. Bracken. McKillican. Hopkm.. a committee, compo^sd of Dr G^™^^ J^„ ^^at purpose with power to add Fairfield. Cutler, and Nunmck^^beappomt^Jor^PJ^^^ ^^ reference this to their number. ^Substantially. »f it wants a«m ^^^ ,„.o,dinat«i on paragraph that " Experimental work BhouWbe ,„„paring methods of Government Experimental Fam^"^ ^SL practical operations of farming applying knowledge, already P«««f***: J",'" Jaer varying conditions of soils, n orf« to obtain the ^* ^^"""'"^^JffSe , Sources "w^ld be a general term olimate. markets, labour and oth-^ a a^^^^^.^'^^;" ^,' G.isdale will bo convener , .oforenoe for the P.vrpo.^* ^' ^^^^ secretary, of the committee and Mr. 1!. '-'-"""" \l Good Seed L. H. Newman Secretary, Canadian Seed Growers' Agaociar jn ALL who are interested in the welfare of Canada must appniciate *he enor- mous value of the annual production of her crops, reaching, as it does, into the millions of dollars. While that production is enormous — something over 800 millions of bushels over all of Canada, including cereals and potatoes — approximately 8 per cent of it has to be set aside each year for reeding pmposes. Approximately 65,000^000 bushels of seed grain alone is require'ii to seed the areas devoted Vo those crops. We also require approximately 9,000,000 bushels of seed potatoes to plant the areas growing our potato crops. In other words, we require about 76,000 carloads, each containing 1,000 bushels; or a trnin, reaching from Winnipeg to Port Arthur, SCO miles long, every car containing 1,000 bushels. The area devoted to these crops in Canada is approximately 41,000,000 acres, therefore, if. by any process of seed selection, seed improvement or better methods of farming, we could increase the productive power of that seed by one single bushel per acre, it would add approximately $80,000,000 to the wealth of the country in a single year. The seed question is, therefore, an exceedingly important one and one to which this conference, or any body of public spirited people, can well afford to devote some attention. There are four main ways in which produoticn may be increased: (1) Kv adding fertility directly to the soil; (2) ' • cultivating the land a little bettor and by following a better system of crop rotation; (3) by adopting suitable measures to protect our crops against the ravages of plant diseases and Insects, and (4) by the more general use of seed of better breeding and of varieties more suited to the conditions where grown. The need for greater attention to the seed used in Canada is everywhere apparent. Those who visit seed exhibitions, even where the finest grade of seed should be found, will recall the presence of impurities, and of mixtures of otht'r variotios. A few years qgo some interesting investigations were conducted by the Commission of Conserva- tion and also by the Dominion Seed Branch. I will refer very briefly to the investigations of the Seed Branch only. Samples of seed were taken by special men directly from the grain drills at seeding time in this province (Manitoba) — 146 samples of oats were taken, 60 of barley and 100 of wheat. Of the farmers from whom the samples of oats were taken, 62 did not know the name of the variety they were growing, 67 treated their oats to prevent smut and 79 did not. The average number of weed seeds was 369 and the largest number of weed seeds in any sample of o&ts was 2,153 per pound. Very few farmers knew the name of tL3 variety of barley they were growing. In the case of this crop, as high as 9,988 WParm«r» 40 COMMISSION OP CONSERVATION elevators 100.000 ton. of •*»«*'«*^ ,*^»' ''J;,^^X^« J^rUt of this «>ed form of weed aeed. at the ^'^'^^ ^l^"' ^^.^"TlMing then, would would re.„.e 3^ -■Soo'^bt'^rotSnrportti^^tha^^^ ™. i.^aly one rth?p^'tS tJ'Srde^Tn connectL with the good seed problem of the P^J^' '» „i^„, ,hc more general use ot good seed. Many agenea* are seemng to u. » -.ii„a, various enterprise* con- such as experimental farms and .««;-^tu^ fieUcTopcmJ^titionlT boys' «id ducted by our .gricult.v.al «»«?»'°" /f^^^' ^^^ "X^^ etc. We Aaeociation. • , Tl,« iaolation of iuperior strains of field crops is largely the iJrk^ OT^ at Xrimental stations or agricu tural college. ?n t^e ^hand. i!. muat recognize the po«^.l;t.ea tha^ 1« s.:^ ^^ -« -- -Sij r.^f fL^ti^n^^. wheat in Ontario for many years. ^^J''^^^,°^ a seK"n out of the old Daw«,n. We aUo have a I^*'*- ^^'^f.^Jt^^ndh^^^ an extent not Dooley variety -I'ifj*-* «J^ \hi S be of ^terest to you people here enjoyed by many other vaneties. ims J»i" ■« Coming's swede turnip, ^ho are concerned in d'y f««»»°«- .^^^ Zy'sfrains all va"u^le contributions Moore's sugar mangel and many other good <^'^^'^^2. ^f mdiyidual and especially suitable to certam d^tn^' ^J*, J^Slg better, is one of study the crops they are growing. ^^^^^^.^^^ ^ deal of correspondence during the past two or thr^e years J^^'J^^' ^^f„g \tudying the application from individual farmers -^P Xtv^hTruld iT^^^^^^^^ a little direction, of improved principles, and who say ^J^^^ .^^'f^'^^'^^o^g their own crope, if with a view to helping them find «oj«et^m« J/"^ among .^^ possible, which may -rk ^^^^^^.'^^^^LZ^^t^r., o/all the while Experience '■^'l>'^«te8 that tnere is h suitable to certain conditions of and that some varieties ^««'»'°f ?f '^'""^S that and rather dislike throwing soil. Farmers themselves are ''°'"\fJ°,Xm but which, for various reasons, aside varieties which have done T"J'*^ *^^^J" sort* ; or perhaps they n.ay ^ave become impaired or mix^with^om^^^^^ ^ J^^^.^^ ^^.^^ niay have found strains I'^^iff^^^^^jSgTncouragement and some assist- GOOD SEED 41 oonaiderably mora interMt than if that same work were done at a OoTemment inatitution. Farmem expect special work by a Goyemment institution, but if another farmer doea work of special merit, they feel they should be able to do theaame thing. The moat pressing problem of the association is that of props- Increaaint the 8*^^^ efficiently and ia a much larger way the good seed which Supply of i* now available throughout Canada. The solution of this problem Rsf laUred ia being aought, first, by encouraging the organization of seed- ***^ growing centi "; secondly, by improving marketing facilities; thirdly, by inc^ «aing the demand for good seed both in Canada and in the United States; fourthly, by encouraging private enterprise and initiative; fifthly, by making the production of registerable seed an entirely practical proposition for any farmer whose location and system of farming permita it. The organising of seed centres is probably one of the best ways that this particular problem is going to be solved, especially in Eastern Canada. Seed centre work is not quite so important in the weet as in some of the older provinces, whera few farmers grow as much as a carload of grain. In the west theie are many farmers who, either alone or with a neighbour, produce seed in carload lots. It is important in this work that seed be grow^ in considerable quantities, because we find that where seed is wanted is not usually around the district where the crop is best, font in districts where the farmers have to buy the seed, where they have had a failure or a partial failure and where seed is required in quantity. When farmers have to buy seed they \isually wish to buy a little better seed than they have been using. The ordinary farmer, if he gets a reasonably good crop, is inclined, as a rule, to go on and use his own seed or get seed from his neighbour. There are a number of seed centres in Caiiada, and they are increasing. The seed centre idea consists simply in selecting areas which are known to be particularly suited to the production of seed of a high quality, and getting a number of farmers in thdae districts to grow seed in considerable quantities. One of the most promising seed growing centres at present is in Prince Edward Island. It was realized that a good deal of excel- lent seed was being produced in Prince Edward Island and much seed grain was being shipped out of the island. While some of the best people there are not in favour of shipping grain off the island, they are not adverse to shipping seed grain if they get a sufficiently good price to enable them to buy back other feeds. After much discussion it was decided to undertake some definite work in the district of Kensington. A seed-cleaning machine was purchased, a warehouse was rented and arrangements were made to interest individual farmers of the district, with a view to placing in their hands for propagation some of the best registered Banner oats we could find. Last spring we distributed to forty-eight farmers in that district around 2,000 bushels of registered Banner oats, and it is hoped to have 60,000 bushels of registered Banner oats avails'oie for the trade next spring at that particular point. Manitoba is taking steps next week to start something of a similar nature. One of the big diffictdties in the West, so far as the seed question is concerned, has been that of marketing. The problems of financing and of storing are particularly difficult Many of our farmers are unable to hold their seed for any length of time and it goes into the elevator. Even if financially able to hold it, they lack facilities, and, imless they sell to the seed-bouse, they have not any very good way of conserving the s^ for seed purposes, so it is largely lost for this purpose. Those farmers who are in a posi- tion and who have the inclination to grow a better class of seed than they have he n grrowing in the past shouKl be encouraged to keep it, and facilities should be Prince Edward Island Qrowing Registered Seed in Export Demand for Northern grown Sood 48 COMMI8BION OF CONSERVATION pundiMing aeawn rtarto. There i. an excellent and gn>win« demand ^'''^f^^^^l grown .eed in the United States at the p^M t^"*^ J^^f^ Lw. that narthnm-grown Canad.an .ee^ u manyji^ - likelv to give rather better suoceaa in the United b'**^ *'*° " •™''" — - ^ irow^in their own country. In Sweden, where great develop- splendid organieation. La«t year, for the fir.t time, an exhibition of •^«P'° ^^^.^^^ 8ucca..ful in in connection with the International Lire Stock ExiKH»t^on^ Compotltlon. Members of our association exhibited at that fair, ""d were aWe to carry off a Srge pro^rtion of ^^^^^^J^^, ^^'T^rtr^:^ ^^^ open ola« for hard spring wheal, we took t^« «"»«'? P"*^ the exhibition next tlrst prizes both in white and black oats and in barley, ^t *he e'l^^yt I>eceniber we are proposing to put up an «^^'%*" ^^ *°3"„* Id v" are Up to «bout three years ago. '^Y^^f^ tie»\Ty^s oiZr work we each succeeding year. After a cerwin "^ ^ , ^ ^ ^^^ very they could obtain registration for ^^^''J/f "'^^/prlluc^ Tn Canada, because seriously limiting the amount of Jf 'f^^jfJ'^^^^J^^^^^ The regula- the busy farmer cannot spend much time '"/Pf^'«^^'^^^^^^^ ^^^^ j^e lives, may tions have been "^-'^^J^J^^ ^}^,Z ZTlo ^.aT W the growing crop '''''^ ZT7t o"af pSe LdThich" up To a certain specked standard Srha^iTm^ra^wTg^rnrOther men are able to continue for ten or twelve years without getting in a fresh supply. When the seed begins to show signs of depreciation in P»«^^ O..rcoming ra"y the grower may obtain a fresh -PPlyj;7J°^. lmr*iti«t grower or institution. If his difficulty consist chiefly m impun ?hisTower had bee« arrowing Marauiswhjtfo^^^^^^^^^^ CJ^nThalS CaJS OOOD 8GBD 43 him five jenn ago, to make • Mlection of what appeared to be typical Marquis wheat heada, and to low the leed of each head by itaelf, carrying on the " Mparate culture " or head-row tystem, and to aelect one of those rows aa a f D«h starting point He did this, and last year 1 saw over 600 acrea of Marquia wheat on his own farm, all tracing back to a single row. Another grower further south bad a beautiful crop all ripening at the some time, and uniform in quality, and which traced back to a single head propagated by the former grower. An;- farmer san grow registerable seed from year to year provided he sows registered seed, has the crop inspected and is able to harvest grain which is up to standard as regards purity, quality, and vitality. He does not need to carry on selection work from year to year, but the minute he gets into difficulty, the minute there is any sign of a falling-o£F in quality or purity, he can take three courses, namely, get a fresh supply, rogue or mass select, or, if circumstances warrant it, mak- a tioau row selection. The problem of producing pure seed in i]uantity is now comparatively simple ; in fact, it seems a matter of poor business for any farmer who has reasonably clean land not to sow pure, registered seed, iind have the crop inspected, with a view to taking a chance on weather and other conditions enabling him to come through. Systsmatic S«sd Supply Essential Taking Canada as a whole, we feel there is need for a systematic survey of the whole country, in order that sufficient seed may be produced to meet our needs every year. I have been connected with this work now for nearly fifteen years, and there has never been a single year in all that time that Canada has not suffered in some part or parts to such an extent as to make the bringing in of large quantities of seed necessary. You are all familiar with the work of the Seed Purchasing Commis- sion. You know something of the large amounts of seed they have had to purchase during the last few years. It seems to me, at this late date, it should not be necessary for that Commission, or for any individual or organization, to have to purchase seed of a lower standard than is required of registered seed; that is, they should be able to get seed in the quantity they wish, and of the variety and standard that is needed. There is a growing demand for a better class of seed, and if such seed could be bought in sufficient quantities, they would much rather buy it than, seed of questionable quality. Last year large quantities of oats were purchased in Ontario. The farmers at that time got hO cents a bushel, but the Commission would have preferred to pay a dollar a bushel for seed thii could be recognized. We were able to get only a limited quantity of registerable seed, and by far the largest quantity came from Prince Edward Island. The Seed Growers' Association is really comparable to the Live Stock Records office. We have not the staff to organize the work throughout the country. That is largely a matter for local effort, but it is gratifying to know that the different provinces are doing much more than they have done in the past in solving this important problem. Dr. Cbarlgi Saunders : I am glad that this question of good seed has come before the c inference. From the point of view of dry, very dry years, it is not the most important question, but is a question of very great importance, to which a deplorably small amount of attention has been devoted. I can never understand why it is that a farmer is willing to pay a very large price for a good animal, or large, relative to the value of an ordinary animal, when the same farmer very often will not care to pay a good price for good seed. .We need good seed and we need good varieties. Something was said this morning about the varieties of winter rye. That is a very difficult problem, one to which we have not given as much attention on the experimental farms as I jhould have liked. Most so-called varieties of winter rye are very similar to each other, and 44 COMMlBtlOH or CONBBRVATION of oouiM. . _. . . T tvj-w ,«^ imDroT«m«nt can be helped. I AM nation thTM w«ri m *^'«* ^^Ti^he" o"d« of innK.rtau, . -u Tb. fl»t T*ir'T«m«t-;I ;P ~» »':"t*j!!!T';; I r^t W think more intelli- that th. f«m-r. .bould thmk . J'^ ""'*±'aoJrt\"nk .t .11 of the value of good teed, «thei good aeed of t«'/»"*r^.;°i^" .«r.lto nt to be led away lock dewiing facilitie. for the.r gram. Th.^ « ^^y ^ b^^wd I baye for *"• '*™"' tu^^rtirtreairhmtLfof'^nt'^^^^ Pl.nu i. ab.o^ many yean thought that the """I?""' . -«,wiM of good aeed grain, aad lutely e^ntial to .n,p™^«2rr"i^m^^^^^^ who were not would. '«" for is not in the intereat. of the '•o>intry that any man^J""?^ T.timula J him to hi« aeed grain .o far a. the P"** ;*f^*J* ^."'^^e'l good, and no doubt it has grow better grain, or "t.mukte. som^ne eke veor gooj ^^^^ .^ ^ ^^^^^^ that effect to a certain extent, but 1 thinK " °o» «"' " J ^ . p; ^ ^^^^ tion of thi. kind, to make ^wo -«8-*--^^ii XJ the^nnrtion .hill be the sample of gram shall "o* .'»%';^«^ "°* 1 ^Sely mean, having the seed determined. Thi. i. a very simple matter, 'tj^f 'J'^ ^^^^^ f^j,. Second, and ^ain exhibits on ha.>d two ^^^^^^ J.«^°/« *^^/Suit to carrv out and more t,is l^'^'^^^^^o.^C^Z^:'::^^^^^ of a .uantit. important, P* J''P!rJ]';3 ^"^",3 i^peotion on the farmer's premises, prefer- of aeed for sale. This would jeqmre 1^ ^ managed, no doubt, ably, also, inspection of the standing "°P- ^"''j j^ ^^^ object in view beinp under the Seed Growers' A««°=>''''''"' "^^ f^;, he .haL win it. not because of that when a farmer -«« "5 .fj^J^^.^tf Sain but because he has at home hi. showing an exceptionally good «a^f/'^^\ ' ^^^jiable for the enthusistic for sale a quantity of that ^^^ -Ju.h ^^"^J^ haradmired this sample and farmer who ba« f -f^^f^f ^e ' me ^aHetv of the same quality, for his own who wished to obtain some of "^^^"^^ T^°"^^ '. j f^^^ jg jjoing to mean a uw. I quite realize that a^y radical change in "f^J/j^^'; J^^f ^^o are capable radical increase in expenditure. I ^^XZeUS^e The point i. not. will „| HolvinK question, without .'""^^ ^^Tth n^ the a^Uwer i« yes. it cost more; the point is. is it worth "^^^^^ ^ ^^^ f^,, .^at Banner new variety. OOOD SBBD Mr. Niwiuji : TImn ia bo raricty to naiTarMlly grown at tko pwunt tin* u BuuMT. It MMM paeoliarly tuitod to a gnat rariaty of oooditiona. and it tuj b« intaraatimr to know that oar Tary baat atrain of Bamiar. of whieh wo hava qnita a nnmber, waa prodnood bj Norman Dow, of Oilbort Ilaina, llan^ who ttartod in Joat twantj yaara ago. At OtUwa a ftw yaara ago that varialy waa oomparod with oight or ton othara in tan-aore ttripa and it yialdad tho boat by four bnihala. One of oar good atraint of Banner waa grown in Priaoa Edward Iiland by Mr. Wangh. Profeaaor BiDfoaD: Hare yoa found any great adrantage in leleoting the hearieat for leed. and fanning out the light! That ia the praotioe I have followed. Mr. NiWKAK : The strong, heary oat aeema to hare a benoBoial effect, for one year at least; that ii why we try to hare oata grown on good aoil. The effect of aoil in producing seed grain haa not been aufflciently dealt with by most of our asperts. We find if we can get oata grown on real good soil, the percentage of dockage is smallest and the next yield is likely to be better. That, perhapa, is one reason why registered oats hare done so well in many oaasa. The eontinnone growing from year to year of thoae oats on good aoil, we beliere, hu a beneficial effect. Profeasor Bboiobo: There was a feeling here some years ago that it was necessary to change the seed every few years. On the experimental farm at Brandon, at the close of my eighteen-year term there, we had the same oats — Banner oat»— that we had wbeo we started, also the same Red Fife wheat, and barley, and each period ot fire years saw a noted increaae ':a the yield; but we were exceedingly careful what land our seed grew on. If possible, we grew the seed on new land, and then we cleaned it, faoniog it three or four timea. We were not satisfied unless the oata weighed 42 pounds to the bushel. Hon. Waltir M. Lea, Commissioner of Agriculture, Prince Edward Island: I have been very deeply intereeted in what I have listened to dnring the i.rcscnt conference, and particularly with the class of men that you liave in the employ ot the different Departments of Agriculture, because I know the difficulty at the present time of necuring trained help. I like the calibre of these men and the evident impetus they give to the work that is being carried on. It is very valuable to this province. I may say your problems are altogether different to ours in Prince Edward Island. They seem to be climatic, particu- larly in regard to the amount of moisture The problem of the farmer is made up of a good many different divisions, particularly that of a live stock farmer. The farmer who grows a crop of grain and harveets it all in the fall has many such difficulties as you have been discussing here to contend with; but the man who grows a crop in the summer season, and attempts to manufacture it into a higher class or live stock product of some nature, has often difficulties which require great intelligence to get the most out of his raw products — ^it requires a different class of skill. The class of animals he selects, the care and housing he gives them, and his knowledge as a feeder in blending feeds, are some of the problems the live stock farmer has to meet. In connection with the problem of seed grain which Mr. Newman has been discussing, a farmer has to face many different conditions. The spring, when the farmer attempts to select seed, is a most Important season. I was strudc with the remark of Dr. Saunders, that he was amazed that a farmer who would pay a bier price for an aninu.. would be satisfied to sow indifferent grain. It ia true, and it is a strange thing too, that a great many live stodc men, who will make a very careful selection of dieir breeding animals, are almost indifferent about the class of seed they sow. It seems to have a great deal leas importance than the class of stock. All of these things are of importance, and we must look 41 ooMMiaaioM or coi»«»«vatioh iHTnto iS TtoS JriucU. .ndVttin. th. futility tlut h« ..me from the ^ lil M uTiiShi-Ui with tJ- UMt po-lM. ]om, «• P~W«» 'J ^2 J^S-^iTiB tLTiw^t-bi^rt to fT«t lo««. I •oiMtiin- think that wt thin« we know thould b« done, we would b« doing a «Te«t de.l better ""«'•«' SitTiT. m^rter of doing flr.t thin,, firet-of .ttendin. to the moet .mporUnt but It u • """' y ° ^„ of «xp«n.ion end conterretlon of m-'ture end "^^ Jund dHfS ou« .re" mdie the mo.t of the little area of country '::t:li\^i^tS^i^^^i^^^-^' -<» ^ "- tho.e thin,, we .P«c -H- m^ Mch M J^ pTin. and .eed. of variou. kind., that will require, and to which "^"w': Wk"'at the different pha.e. of thi. question and .ee. a. Mr^ time. Provincial GovtranMnt Co-operation F. H. AuLD, IVputy MinUtor of AurLulturp. SMkat.hewan : The Com- miMion of Con»erT«tion, our Mperimental farmn and the ooIIbrm deterrc • rerv en»t de«l of irrntuudo from all of ut. Poitcrity will probdbly admit the debt wore than the preMiit fceiieration. Our exp..rinientall«U and the CommiMion of Cou«»rvatioi, with theni are doing a rery raluable work in laying down ,ml,MM which will b« followed wh*n they hare to be followed. Medical wUnce bai done a great deal for humanity in itt inveatigation work which cnablet them t.. deal with diwate m the human family, but it ii only when the diieate exist* tliat wo go to them for RMtntance. and that leemt to be the unfortunate character- i*tic in conniption with our agricultural probleroi. We have been to buiy trying t.. combat drought fhut we have g„t into the other difflculfy of drifting ^iU H., have boon «<> bu*iy growing grain that we have got into the difflcultv of growing w«-d.; an.l it ..■m* to mo the iolution of the- problem, comet from the adoption of a pro,».r system of rotation. But it ha. l)«>n the hi.tory of all pioneer district., and Wcfm Canada i. no exception, that thew change, only ...n^e when they are forced by an outraged nature whoae laws we have violated n.id we arc compelled to take .tuck of our aifairs an.l to reconstruct a better ugriculture. The .ettlcr* in California admit that they were practically on th- v.rge of bankruptcj-. so for n. their farming wo. concerned, before they chang^l into a .y.tem which ha. proven to be a better and more profitable .y.tcm T was reading a short time ago of condition, in Wi*,.onsin. probably one of the U-st bearing state, in Amcricu. where six years ago the farmer, were con.iderinif Mriously leaving their land because they were no longer able to grow wheal. Jit r .i"!n y'^-^r,'" had been one of the leader, in wheat pro.luction Ml the Lnited States. A lot of them were leaving for newer soils further west newer districts, una they solved their problems and overcame their difficulties by getting a right kind of farming rotation. We have been interested for some time ill the problems of southwestern and western Saskatchewan, which are similar to other areas in Western Canada in that they have not had a sufficient ""k^m "w*"^'**!"? '" t*"* P"*' '^"^ °' ^°"' y*"" *° 'n-ke grain growing 'rffl U?'- Z^ ^"i '^"^ '^' '™'*™*=y "^ P^'P'^ ♦« ''«•' uutil they were Z difficulties before they were ready to listen to .uggestiows and advice. For- tunately we have the ass.sfn.ice and advice of a great number of agriculturists. At a conference that was attended by a large number of farmers from all over the area these question, were discussed with breathless interest, because they realize their problem and the need for assistance in its solution. These people during the past six .vears. were attempting to grow grain with a Irvei of world dn?'t I." T^'^l" '^""l^*''' P*'"*"'P'' '" ^^« experience of any person «e fina tlT /',^ "'" '"'°^"'?'^ Tu^ "'P""'"'^- ^'""•'K ^'""^ P^'-'d of Jx years. «e find that they were going behind with their farm., due to the vagaries of ZZ^'l W-'T^^'"'''^ producing the quantities necessary to make a lufflcient houW £ 1 lrel?'"t^,°'^'"'"'"; *° ^ ". """^'- I* "" ''"»««'"«<1 that there ^ili-fi .• ^ / utilization of precipitation, that there should be greater diversification of crops and that some steps should be taken whereby their entire crop would be used, and not merely the grain portion of it only, which has been the case up to the present; in other words, that there should be more live ock on every farm other than horses. Byrai.ing live stock the roughage whch utiW .^'^n': ""*; ^^^'y."'^^' r^^ich they have in that area should be utilized, and not merely a portion of it, as at the present time. Just as Koa CaiaS^jre °^ '"' "'"'"^ "" ''^ "^"^ ''" "' «' '^' '^^'^ »* the ^ COMMIBBION OF COK»»«VATIOK fronting m, wd I wMit to wy that I »*»,^««fi^5S Sat n-ay ot other thing, that ^-Tl^''. .»% ^^^^^L*^. inSr i«rtion ofouTproTinoe. everythin* that hai been Mud. It appUes *». ^^^ "*»"'*" ""T,., j-JT^ {..t TnTl Wieve that the fanner, concerned will .d<^t , Th.m«io,™^2:K^S. land in our proyince are P«>««»«J?J » ^f °f STn^ whf a^ up ^latortit they Aould do, but I wn concerned '^* ^^ ^Z^^ihli^^ o< making a linng. That, I am piewett to ■^» /T™"™ , _ uj:--. that what ha* .«.. But what are we going to do to hdp ^.'^^^JS^^J'^S.-^t been said rewecting «>U nwisture u true, that the queenon ''^^^'^^ tion of those men to-day is to make a liw ^^ ^. ^ The irrioated land in wuthfem Alberta will, in ten ye«M, ^"^'"^ ^^StSTwe wShave the ^^^^^^^^o^Z ^S^^ wJ S fSl^TwShSTthe-* men ,ery materially in the product»n <>* »^<^2^t as sWof «.r mra have advised us. will keep this mowture for a long pmod, it ^^w uX fairly dry land conditions, it will produce a paying crop. But we ZS^^ ki^^ rye that is rown^ I ^'Peen a ^^^^^^^l^^ WUnearly half an inch long, an e«jeedingly l^^^/^P^*' ?^* ^'tl^ Sniu S,Ter the country is not a quarter of an mch long, and the differonce in TieU would be iuat about dotiWe undw similar oonditiona. -SIT^^Sm ofnwet doyer will materially help the situation. I have seen • ^«Sr7S^c^of^XeronwWchoattkandhog.werop.rtunng i^'^STw^ whLT^^ <-^y^'^ r-r^r?.::^ ^3Sr proper conditions we find sweet dorer is J?;^^",|. J^" *r^'S^; !!«!«» «K«i wTwill have more silos in eotfthem Alberta. The ""o "J^ » • prapoeition. J H. Etahs, Deputy Miniater of Agriculture for Manitoba: It « *«f^ to wik oufif^rogSe for Western Canada; it is quit, another matter to get PROVINCIAL GOVERNMENT CO-OPERATIOM 49 tin fannan to aoeept Chat mocnmme. They may agne with th« adrioe gWen, and dodn to put it into affaot, bat faoton irtnob appear to be twymid human oonttolaeem to militate agaiortputfincthia adrioe into effect Thera ia. however, quite a ahange in the public attitude. I remember when I fint entered an Agri- enhnral College, the statement being made—" W«U, there is another boy leaving the Inad." When men left our own institution in Manitoba to go back to tlie land, they were greeted more or leea questionably. Gradually, then it a change, and Hbe men are filling their plaoes in their district. I remember the adyioe giTen by liie head of the institution, that the agricultural college was training men for leaderriiip. We find that the men who have gone out of our inatitotions and are farming in our districts are finding their place and are gradually— and it is a good thing that the change is gradual— assuming leadership, and I think, speaking generally, the farmers realize that a change has to be made. We have been fortunate in Manitoba with respect to drouth. We had one small territory in the southwestern portion of ihe province which has suffered a partial crop failure, but even in these areas there were some good fields, showing that there is a way of overcoming the natural factors if we can find it. .>r ^ K 148T8— * Soil Moisture m ST Pbof. E. S. Hopkins School of Agriculture. Olds, Alberta rp HE subject of .oil =>ohture lenj UeeH ^ 'r^jtm^thTsSe tion in W«tem Canada is the amount of P'Sl^^^^^^^^^r f,X«Tay^n.it the «.il u«uaUy ensures »P-fi»ttu^wnSr^^S grasshoppers paction :the^a ;^^-^i^,^r^/;aTn; rSTud may bum it up; may eat off the crop, weeos "f? '^™ . , . j^ may get frozen or hailed, exce^ .ve rain may bringru^ ""l^t J. WestZ CaS.^cipitation is the has not accomplished anything. A study of the precipitation records through^t Western Canada crrcarm!nnetX^Station records in these places The exammation veals srerrraTher^nteresting and important points (See figs. 1 and 2.) The average annual precipitation at Edmonton is 1T.21 mches. while at tr-j • W.fTi/l2 W inches It is not the average total annual precip.tat.on, Medicme Hat it is ^a.TTinciies^ ii makinsr deductions. It is the minus depar- tne av^8«« v J^ ^ ^ ^ tjje,e ^je many serious dry years m the ^^V^f Haf dTlS^ Thirdiagrams seem to confirm the view that dry and ?f yl" go in eX but other Charts made for other districts contradict this impression. Precipitation Rtcords COMMIttlON OP CONSCRVATION ISM IM4 IMS IM( IHT !••• I68S ISSO IMI I89Z 1893 in4 IS9S IMS IM7 IfSS ISS9 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 I90S « I90C 1907 1908 I9D9 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 131 1919 PRECIPITATION AT EDMONTON 37 YEARS RECORD Season: April, May June.July August ^B ToUl for Ysar(Ff|urM indicite prtcipitalitn in incht4^B • ''^mmm^'-M-. ■ mmmmzy ■ ■mM;-^^ flgOMS Rainfall During th* Qr*wlng Smmh ■ OIL KOISTURB M It ia not M mudi the total jmOj pradpitatkm wbidi ia impottent, aa it ia the rainfall during the growing leaaon. The winter anow- fall maj melt and run off into alougha, while the apring and fall raina may eraporate before tiie «pringteeded cereal cropa can utilize the water. It ia the rain whidi falla in the growing aeaaon whieh ia the moet important Turning again to Edmonton and MetUcine Hat (figa. 1 and 2) let ua examine the amounto of rainfall during the growing aeaaon, and here let me mention that the growing aeaaon at £ridge, whidi may be Mid to repreeent witii fair approximation the crop development at Edmonton and Medioine Hat, it win be found that, while during the years 1908 to 1015 Letbbridge harreated oata on an average on Augnit 6, Lacombe harvested oats during the same period on September 1; moreover, at Letbbridge the oata were seeded only four daya earlier than at Looombe. COMMISSION OP CONSERVATION PRECIPITATION DURING THE GROWING SEASON Figures indicate precipitation in inches fOMONTON ~ MAY, JUNK, JULY. AUGUST. LACOMBE. '~ 1 MAY, JUNE, JULY. \ Figures The precipitation at Edmonton and Looonibe during the growing season of May, June, JiJy and August and for May, June, and July at Me^ine Hat and Letfafaidge is shown on fig. 8. One oouldv of course, inolttde Aipril, because, ordinarily, the grain is seeded in April; on the oHher hand, the rainfall is not very heavy in April and, aa the etop is not high enough to shade the ground, the evaporation from the eoil is considerable. This chart shows how much less is Hie rainfall in Medicine Hat than in Edmonton during the growing season. It may be of interest to show what the rainfall actually is during these montha. May June July Aoguit Total for 4mog. (SeyMis) Edmoatoa 1-66 311 3-as 3-42 1-80 2-3S 1-47 10-55 781 MedidMHat 07y«srs) TiMfflnbt L 3» 2-37 3S8 283 3«1 1-55 2- 13 201 10-54 8-SS tsthbiidas ooMifisaioN or comsxrvation It win ba awn that the moodia ol May and June ait Edmonton and Medicine Hat an not far apart, but that the month of 3vij it oooaidenMy kmer at Medi- cine Hat tiban at Edmonton. Tfaia ii a moat Mrioua faotor, beoanae Jnly ia the moniiSi vhkli needi rain the mott and partioolarijr in the M>n11i where, in this month, the orop maturea so rapidly. The figurea for Lacoinfce and LetUwidge, which are for a period of much ■borter doratioa, eoafinn the igorea for Edmonton and Medicine Hat COMMISSION OF CONtMVATION EVAPORATION DATA OLDS CLARESHOLM.. MAY JUNE JULY 3«7 /////////'//////////////////■/// y^/////'/////'//'/^^^y^^''"'^''^^///^' y///y/////jy//////////y//////////////////y/''''//^^^^^''^''yy^^^/^''/y'Z^:Z^^ l»-ai. 7»m^M>}»}mi»VM/»M aaa AUG. ■/■//y////-/////////yy/'////M,/////y''/''///''/' ♦•7* >Pf SEPT. ■/////////////////////////////////' 3M NOTES Fi|ur«s indicate evaporation in inchea. Scale of Total Evaporation dia^ ?t rain would be, perhaps, nearly the optimum amount, because the "^*U ^^ excess of 16 inches percolated through the soil and leaclied away valuable plant food. There are not available for Western Canada or, aa far as I am aware, for the Western States, any records of such percolation work as has been done at Cornel] University by Dr. Lyon. Such work, however, is most urgently needed. Experiment* conducted at Olds, Alberta, showed that fall rye utiliaed the precipitation which fell during the faU, winter and spring in a very ^eotive manner. Last winter, from October to May, there was at Olds approximately eight inchec of precipitation. The soil had saved in the spring what was equivalent to four inches of rain, a very considerable amount. ■ OIL MOIBTUKB 07 It U of ▼it*] coMidantioB to Imtb how tUa awittan oui bt UtHbltiM """^^ effeotirdy ntUiiod. Fall ryt, 1^ proridinf a oorwiac Ofw •f Motetura ^^ anrfaoe of tha aoil and by BiakLog a ara^ aarliar growth, utilisea thii moiatura miiah mora efhetiToly than gyringaaadad oarecla. In tho month following the data of aaading of apring oanala, in whieh period 1-6 in^aa of rain fall, it waa found that tha aoil on whieh fall rya wu growing had nuMle a conaidarable growth, bnt had not loat mndi mora moiature than tha aoil growing qiring-aaeded cereals. Fall rye whieh haa a fair amount of top growth conserTM the moisture more effeotiTely than when there is a shorter growth. This work was condneted in cans 80 inehea deep and fiUad with layera of aoil in the order in wUoh they occurred in the field. The cans were weighed regularly, which permitted the colleetion of accurate data. Another significant fact brought out waa that, due to the eztea- Fall Rye ''^^ '*'<*^ system of fall rye, it makea a much more satisfaotory Abaerfae Most utilization of soil moisture than do the spring^aeeded cereals with Melstura their shorter root development. Fall rye, which, in the cans, had its root development reduced to 80 inehea, is now only three feet in height, while rye growing in the field on similar aoil, but with, of course, unlimited opportunity for root development ia aiz feet high. Moreover, tiie rye seenu able to absorb a much greater percentage of the moisture content of the soil than doea spring-seeded cereala. Experimental woric with evaporation at Olds shows that light showers of rain are of very little value unleaa the soil is already moist on top. One-tenth of an inch of rain, falling on a dry soil free from vegetation, ia lost on a warm summer day in less than twelve hours; almost an inch of rain is lost from a dry soil in one week. When the crop covers the soil the evaporation is very much checked. ExBsrimants With Crops for Drought Resistance Water BgQtnuKiRTa or Obopb Inseparably connected with precipitation and evaporation from the soil is the quantity of water which cropa require to produce their growth. Consider- able woric of this kind haa alreaJT been dona^ bnt in other countriea than Canada, namely, in the United States^ England and Germany, where conditions of aoil and eHmate are not aimilar to thoae which obtain haroL In a country where the rainfall ia the limi'tim factor, the diacovery of cropa which are eoonomieal in their uae of aoil moisture is invaluable. It ia only poaaible here tr .^e a brief outline of the method used to secure thia data and to preaent aome of the reaulta. Yarioua crope have been grown, in cana 80 inehea deep and 15 inehea in diameter. The aoil haa been taken from the field in layera, each layer of soil has been thorouf^ily mixed to insure every can reoeiving uniform aoil, and the layers of aoil replaced in the cana in the order in which they occurred in the field. The cans are covered with lids, which have openinga to allow the grain to grow, theae openinga being aealed to prevent acceaa of rain or eacape of evaporation. The cana, which, when filled, weigh about S40 pounds, are weighed regularly and additions of water are made through openings in the tope of the cans. The work having been started only last year, we were able to secure figures only for spring'seeded cereals and for a amidl crop of aweet clover and al&lfa. The reaulta were surprisingly lower than had been foimd in other diatricta. It made us hopeful of discovering methods which might be more successful here than in the Weatem States where the temperature is warmer. COMIIISSION OF CONBBRVATION Tkt foUowiac flfurw ikow tk* nnmber of poundi of water raquind to ^odoo* MM pound of tho Tariow eropi, at Ifadiaon, Wiaoontin; Akron, Ooktrado; ud Olds, Albarta. ■1 M II 1 Cray MadiMM, Wi«»Mia Akraa, Coionao Oldi. AlbMtt «hMt lb. lb. 107 •U S39 aoo 3aa LOW TW lb. ITI S2r Ml tM M6 ■!fc.::: ::; MT pE7;;::::;:;:;::::.: MO Con I7» AUhlh 478 ttl FavourakU OandHlwta In Alkarte Tke one ontotanding fact in oonneetion witk tk«i« fifUTM ii tkat in Alberta tk« water requirements of crops are reiy muek lower. There are sereral reasons for this ; the temperature is cooler, tke eraporation is less, and tke number of konre of sunskine is very mnok greater, wkiek increases tke pkotosjmtketic action and promotes more rapid growtk. TkeM factors are very important, but tkey need more study and more SKperimental work if tke fullest use is to be made of tkeae advantages. Tke question of drought resistance is not simply tke sdection of those crops wkiok require tke unidlest amount of water to produce a pound of dry matter. Otker factors are also of considerable importance. Some crops are able to ramain in a dormant condition during periods of extreme drougkt and to resume tkeir growtk wken more moisture is available. Otker crops, under similar conditions, succumb. It remains, tken, for us to discover tkose wkiok are able to enter into tkese periods of dormancy, if we are to overcome tke dry periods wkick, unfortunately, sometimes occur in tkis country. Sunflower is a crop wkiok is able in tkis manner to witkstand drought, as is also brome grass. Additional crops possessing tkis okaracterrstic should also be found. Some crope take out of tke soil more moisture than others. Last year, at Olds, we found that while tinMthy reduced the soil moi«t:ire to about fifteen per cent, brome grass reduced it to about nine per o«it. ' 'oreover, timothy produced only about one-half ton to the acre while brome i produced three tons. Fall rye seems able to reduce the water content r: m soil to a lower percentage than do the spring-seeded cereal crops. This yint should be more thoroughly investigated. It seems possible for us to discover some system of croppins in which, say, after summer-fallow, a crop is seeded which requires a minimum of moisture, to be followed by a crop which, through ability to stand periods of drought and by possessing a more powerful root system, is able to extract the greatest amount of water from the soil. Such a system would be very profitable; every effort should be made to discover it. I have I ited out some facts regarding our rainfall in the drier regions, some conditi. . in connection with the escape of moisture from the soil and some points in regard to the quantities of water required by various crops. Tkese quantitiea of water are muck less than those found in the United States which indicates that, perhaps, our farming methods oa£^t also to be different from those practised there. But, most important of all — in fact, if I do nothing more than this I shall be amply satisfied— I wish to emphasize, with the most sincere conviction, the Must Oiseever •uKable Cropping System ■ OIL MOIBTUKE nrfHit nMMdtj lor nor* «BptriiBeiitaI work. If we are to lare the famert m MOM dittriats from ruin, tad if wa are to build up a proaperoua and stable ^^••*«" JMd^ w« muet kam how to aroid the calamitoua loaeea whioh occur is our dry jraara. Tha aqwri«Ma of farman oaonot do Uiia; publiritj and eztmaioa eaaaot do H; axperimratal work aloite can aocompUrii it We must •tndy by aoiortifle BMthoda how to make farmin* more proAtaUe and more permanaot Dr. Ounuu: I would like to aik Profetw>r Hopkina if he thinki the oom- pariaon of the iwecipitation of the north and the lonth quite fair, to far aa it affect! crop prodnctipnt Would it not haT* been fairer to hare included Augutt m the Muthera precipitation at weD aa in the north? It could be conierred in aome oonaiderablc measure in the summer-fallow, at least. Would it not hare been fairer to have included the bald precipitation as well in both districts, •■parating them, I think, possibly adrisedly. and just hare considmd themt The amount of moisture conserved in his ean from the precipitation in. I think he said, September, October and the winter, waa about 60 per cent, which makea a pretty good atart. If 60 per cent of eit^t inehea ia conserved, four inokaa remaioing at the first of May and there is no precipitation in May, the crop ifl quita safe on summer-fallow at least, and that would overcome that year or two when May had no moisture. This also affecta the crop-producing p^wer of land during other years. I would like to bear hia views on those points. Professor HopKixa: If I included the precipitation of August for the drier region it would more closely approximate in amount that of the moister region and in the earlier tablet I included August for both regions. However, in the south, the crop is harreated about the 1st of August and hence precipitation in that month doea not benefit it. With reapect to the utiliaation of the winter precipitation I do not know how much wei^t should be placed on it. Of eight inehea which fell from October to May, four inches were conserved in May. At that time, however, spring had not passed and of that four inches which was conserved there was really leas than one inch a month later on the land which did not have any crop. A wide difference of opinion exista aa to the amount of moisture that can be brought through on a summer-fallow. On some experi- mental work done in the United States, which, lufortunately, cannot be used here because of the higher temperature there, the amount which came through to tile first of May was a very small fraction. Dr. Oribdalx : The chance of summer-fallow moisture coming through to the firat of May ia much greater in Canada than it is in the southern states. Did the soil in the can — from which you arrived at the conclusion that it was all gone, to one inch, at the end of June — rect>ive any surface cultivation ? Prof easor HoPKura : No. Dr. Orbdalx: That would not make it comparable to field conditions. Professor Hopkois : On some other cana on which we did work we did not get very much difference. I did not mention them. Dr. Orisdale : There is no denying that mulch conserves moisture. Professor Hopkins : It may. We have read of that for many years, but the amount which it will conserve is so small, I would not like to bank very much on its effect upon the crop. It may be good in ways other than the conserving of moisture. I bolieve, in regard to the loss of moisture from the surface of the ground, it is not now known iow it geta out. I did not hear what Mr. Cole said at Swifi, Current but I have read the bulletins pubtished by Chilcott, Cole, and Burr en this topic; they came to the conclusion that there is a possibility of the water going into vapour and passing off in that way rather than through the action of capillarity. C01 OONtBKVATION Hr.Fi I tkat poiat, Pwf. J«ln S. (M«. ol tk« Dry Laaa iBTMticii- DWitv StatM DvutMBt of Aciionhan, kM rtirtid thM froa '•st«a4ia« oTW M pMto of tko irwtMtt port of tho Unitod BtolM, froB ArivLs J Dakota. tlMr iMd oono to tko Maito ooadvrioa tkirt H was Tory donbc j « tiotkor tko toil mvltk rooUy afoetod tko lota of Bobtaro by oraporatioa froi< tki) loU. Ho aaid it waa a Tory atartUof •tataaaoBt to iMko. batkoaaM tk«tirk.««h<>iittkoooiioliiaiontiMgrflaiiMtoaaar«Balt of tkiir «4P«i* ■Mtik Tko ptlaoivol •"»ioa it ia iataaaatiaff U tkat it ia ao vary aaortkodoa. I waatod to aak * 'i* i ina ia ngui to kis oan osporiaoat, what aauMiBt of ■oiatoro was in t boil foro tko oi^t inchat was addad. Tka rooaim I aak ia tkat if the >f'' > -^a fairly U(h and the eight inokaa of noiatiu* was addad, tka orai '>r r . .<< rrui i i oorUialy bo yery much groator tkaa if tko soil was praetiooliy taih.*n'\ >c ^ t oiytatoro boforo adding tho oi^t iaekos. riofoioor F -i - njoaaawo^fllladabonttkalastof ^^itoBibar and tho Boistnro oonton < »* ii' ' s it oc-urrod in tho flolds. If I gave a definite poroontago it ria' i ^^ ' «''«a it ii;.i c - •- it Speiiting ia goaoral torma it was in just fair oond.i or in t> ^.-.k i o moirtare eontaat. Dr. OuaoALK I .m < '.'- >t this fact, in eonnootion with tko conaerration of moisturo, has I -on bro ir>.t tt at this meeting, booauaa it kaa long boon a debaUblo quaatior. I wo. id ' like to haT« tha idoa go oat, aa kaTing baon oooaptod by this meeting, thst tu-ro is no adTantage in attempting to make a muleh of the ground. It oiay be that tho match doea not ooaaarro soil moisture to the extent often attributed to it, and which haa TOry oommoaly boaa aooaptod in the past as the caae. Howerer, thai may be, wo do not want to loare the impT— «iftii that we do not put any valno on soil oultivation after ploughing or any preparation of the crop for the next year. While the mulch in a field that ia in p^nst condition otherwise may not conserro soil moisture, it must be admitted that if you plough a field and then fail to paek it or cultivate it or firm it down you are going to lose very much more moisture, for tho raaaon that the air coniea in contact very mudi mora freely with the soil, and for a considerable depth there is a freer circulation of Ihe »'." than where the soil is firmed down. Therefore, I am of the opinion that, if we let it go out from thia meeting that it is not neeessary to do any cvitural woric after ploughing, we would be leoTing a Tery wrong impression indeed and I would like to bare Prof. H(^na deal with that point Profaaaor Hopsm: Until we got definite data, of course^ it ia baat not to mako too atartliag atatemonta. I may bo wrong. The queation of cnltiTatiae of tho aoil haa many other efFeets than that of conserving moisture. It undoubt- adly haa tko affoot of aerating the aoil, promoting oxidation and therefore making aolublo plant food which would otherwise be insoluble; it also promotes bacterial action which ia related to productirity. So far aa crop ntethoda are concerned, I would not aay tka lack of cultiTation would be quite u good aa the praaeBOO of it Juat how much of that onhiTation ahould bo giTon with profit is a point I think, we will haTo to loU .bllity to 0TW,me the H atawot .ItofBtber Hta that queotion. u to tbi« p«t. erer been .ettled. so that wo can asfoly go back to winter wheat t •»«. •«» «»t Mr. PAnrnu): It ii rather hard to explain di« rea«.n whj winter wb^t ha. ooMod to give the reault. that it did in the pMt^ SsonTJnS^ from oboorration i. that in the early year, practically ^ ..X whw^ww wheat plant, tiierefore went into the winter in a « -onger and r^vVrim^^ tro^ethat Mr Pe«rce ijMci of was apparent in a gr««t n «r f.. -i,, indicitiM * woakmod condition. The Entnmologica! Branch of the ^Je^ann^i of li? cnltnw .«.t out Mr. E. H. Strickland to s. udy the »if»L^T^e7leL^l itwm «! oel-wom. Mr. Strickland con- .uded th«t, while he found Ze«S' worm. preMnt. it wa< very doubtfnl if they were caoaing the tronbl. that it wa. more likdy .omo f ungu. di^aM and that Ae « worm followed. On a«^Jt the areo doroted tc winter wheat was conai rs' y reduced/ The war «Zw on^ inTeatigation t«. di««tinued and ha, r. ' ct been^uiS ^erZ^T IthiBk that th. condition of the soi' «d mor^ to do with itihan .^"h .Tg ^ bo«.n- w. h.Te r..^ winter wh... on th. e^rimental farm eTery y^r «d we haTo a great deal more winter wh«t n, ,r. a', planted on .umme^faDow under apparently aimilar clim.t.V conditi-a, .har. »« ^^ had whm we fir« put it in on freshly broken .on I do not thirk that a. yet Se.^ U a^ Z )MAmg of the conatituent. m the .oil; it is n, e it. phy«cal texture. WiSr rye « «roly killed out. Perhap. it couW be n.^^ted thi. way winter^I 1. hardy, and winter wheat i. top hardy. ^ COMMISSION or CONSERVATION TIm Ohjjuum: B«MDil7 than kaTe beeo muaj euwfnl iaTi«tiff«tia«» made as to why mme twM are killed gome winter* and othen winter-killed at a certain temperature; ^lo lome research as to the moisture oontaiits of the roots and as to whether a more constant a. * more gradual reduction of tempera- ture does not affeot them; and also whether more or less protection does not enaUe them to escape. It is for ns in Oanada bj investication to find Aat oat in regard to winter wheat; by ao doing we may be able to overoome the dificulty. That is why I adrocate research, reaearch, and again research, by oompetmt brains and hands and eyes. I think no one can more than surmise as to why winter wheat geto kiDed and why it gets killed some years rather than others. Last year in Ottawa, more plants were killed than in some years with more eiposure. Pereonials were killed that hare stood the test for tan yean, ^t ia the nature of the diseaae— call it a fungus or anything— and how can wo deal with itf If we get to know the why. we will be able to get to know the how Maintmance of Soil Fibre BY Pbof. T. J. Hahbisojc Manitoba Agricultural College, Winnipeg AMONG the factors whidi tend to rednc profits in crop production there IS none mow important than drif tin In sn aversge of fire years the loss due to this source is probably as great .,. mat due to rust Up to this time pracUcally no work has been undertaken in the Canadian west toward the solving of this problem. I wiU therefore confine my remarks to the results of a prelim- mary siwvey of some of the soil drifting areas of Manitoba made by the Field Husbandry Department of the Manitoba Agricultural Coilege. Mathed of ^^^ *'"'*^ consists of locating a number of areas where drifting Conducting ''"* reported to be bad, and sending out a man to ascertain in a Invsstigatlen definite area the amount of drifting taking place in the various . » , , ^^^'' **» ^^"^ *'o°» *^ farmers the method of farming foDowed on each fidd, and to collect soil samples from the various fields; these will later be analysed by the soil chemist and soil physicist Eiqwrimental fields wiU be located on some of the worst drifting soils in the >iiriou8 areas. On these fields different methods of soil and crop management win be tried o«t. These fields will be operated on the plan of the Conservation Commission Illustration Farms, excepting that, instead of being operated as demonstrations, they will be oi» rated as experiments. Areas Survsysd Typs of Soil Most Llabls to Drift The areas surveyed were those from which drifting was reported and which were easily accessible from the coDege. They are proba;bly not the worst affected distrirts in the province and are cOTUinly not as bad as those discussed by the representatives from the more western Provinces^ The conditions, however, in the districto surveyed to date. Portage Plains, Carberry Plains, Glenboro Plains, Carmen Plains. Souri, and Wawanesa, were alanmng. The first thing to establish was the type of soil moat subject to drifting. In the areas surveyed we found sandy soils, sandy loams, loams and clay loams. One of the samples was taken near the town of Eossendale, and may be classed as a sandy soil. The mo,. 1. ^ 7,^*"^ *•*'* **'"P'^ ^"' ^^^ '^"s being farmed by a man who used no summer-fallow at all, because he dare not leave his soil without Cafwr™ l"' '^^1^^'' "f • ^" '"""^ ^^ ''■^' '^^ ^^'^ ^^'^ from the Carberry plains, Glenboro plains and around Souris. In these districts some fanners, by control methods which wiU be discussed later, were holS iL^T but much of It was drifting badly. The loam samples were taken in t^ ^iS ^n7j""^A,^"T r** ^"""^ '» ^'■""^- T'"* «>» ^^^ ^J Z Ltmot* organic matter and bore much more evidence of fibre. This soil did S\Sr 1^ otiier samples and observations bear out the same results. The ooncl«ion, tiieiefore, was that f e abeenoe of fibre in tiie soil was the causoTf dSSg. .Secondly, that with pre«mt cropping systems, tiie virgin aod fibre was depleted in about 10 years. It has been Aown, that all soil types drift and tiiat wind, win etc influence tiie amount of drifting. It m aleo ronoeded tiwt the 'different types require different treatment. For example, a metlhod that would conserve tiie fibre in tiie loam soito at Wawanesa might not be anoeesrful on ti» eaady loama at Souris. The problem, tiwrefore, become, a local one. Before it can be effectively solved in every dtotrict a K>il and cHmatio survey of tiie provmoe ^^M S Mde From tiie data wcured in tiie preUminary survey, however. : Sl?gi^.S pknSS f«y be laid down. Th.«s with modifications, may be applied to any type of «>il. Oonssrvatien Methods Datsrminsd by l.ecal Conditions MAINTBNANCB OF SOIL. FIBRE w On 75 per oent of the fum Tisited the fumara were codetTourinff to prarent eoil drifting bj Tuiont methodi of cuhiTstion. The meet general praetiee wu an endeftTour to elimJiHta faarrowinar *nd nbatitatuiff peekinc, the theory ^n g «Mt the h«rro«* brake the eoU fibre and pulrcriMd the eoil, and time induoed driftinc. The paoto wu partially socoeHfnl in meeting the problem, but sooner or later the fibre diaappeared and drifting ctarted. Another aohcme was to colti- vate with a narrow-tooth cnltiTator when the aoil was wet, before aeeding. Thii wet cultiTation" waa effectire in preventing drifting. The ^flculty wiUi thi» Mfaeme. howorer, waa that it ia ueuaHy in diy yeus that the drifting ia wor^ Other schemea were uaed by other famtera, but this type of work, when riewed on numerous farms, mu«t be recognised as a temporary relief nMware only. Farmyard Manure On limited acreage iarmyard manure haa proven sucoenful. in both maintaining lie fibre and preventing drifting. Two samples T»^*i. X. TS" T""^ *"™ acboining fitids in the Wawanesa district Botn larmera foUowed the grain-summer-fallowing system of cropping. One ^ei manure on Hw fidd every two or three years. The unmanuied field drifte^ while the other did not. On most Hiam where tlie manui« waa nread m sufflment quantities, it was effective. In some placea it was used to good advantage for topdnasing the knolls, where drifting was Ukdy to etart Other larmmMed straw for the same purpose, some spreading it over the whole fidd. or sprewiing it in strips at right ang^ea to the prevaiUng winds. The we of manure wiH iwt eolve the problnn, becauae there ia not euflksitat manure to cover the ^fting fidds. Secondly, since it is fibre that is leciuired the mamm should be siwead fredi, and weed seeds would also he spread in this way. Thiwiy untosB uMd as topAraasing, it hdda the soil open and k>as of moisture rednoes the j^lds. S^w is plentiful, but, otherwise, has the same limitetions as mamve. T\he coDctasion is, therefore, first, that manure is eileotive, but owing to the limited quantity could only be uaed on amaU areaa; aeeondly, the straw was more abundant but not ao effective, and the danger from spread of weed seedi more than offaet the advantage. Uf een "^ !^ *»nners are pln'''?Hing down greoi crops. One man west Manure Crops ?* y*™^P'^«**f - - for a few years and, while it seemed to be fairly enoctive, it waa discontinued during war time on acoount Jliff * *^ ^ ^' <*™*^ «"* tbU morning that it had not proved snooaiaful on the experimental farms. I do not think, however, he was then speatang from the standpoint of soU drifting. Where drifting ie nc. a factor, ploughing down green manure crops msy not be satisfactory. Tt will hold the -*^, "^^ *"" **"" ""* '**■»'* •»*c>«»t nuHsture for the production of profitable crope, but it is better to have half a crop and prevent the soil drifting than to haveno crop and the soil blowing away. It ie better than strew, because there is no danger from weeds, and when ploug^ied under does not hold the eoO 80 ^n. The conclusion is that, where drifting is bad due to loss of fibre, this method may be used to advantage. It will not, however, be as effective at the roots of the grasnes. Cevtr Crops In both Souris and Carman districts a few farmers w<«e using cover crops of oats and barley sown in July on summer-fallow for the purpose of controlling drifting. Theae eropa also provided some fall patture. The difficulty was that in districts where perennial sow thistle was bad, it could not be controlled, becauae no cultivation eonU he given late in the season. The most successful cover crop observed was wiatar rye. This crop not only acts as a cover when the eoil is most liable to drift, but alto produces a profiteble crop of grain. Soils that drift are usually not in a good state of tilth. Winter rye will thrive on poor soil better than any odier 14873—5 COMKISaiON OF CON8BRVATION oop. The owner of the fans at B oee w d el^ fnu which the Hadj umfi» wee taken, stated that uooe be introduced winter rye into his eropoing cTStem his f arminc had been mote proAtahle and the Mil drifted kit. By doiav away with •ummer-fallowing be aiao got rid of the one practice that was most destruc- tive of ffi>re. The oondoaion therefore ia that, first, in aome aea t ioBa oqrer eropa can be uaed to good adrantafe, and secondly, winter rye is the erop that can be troii>ii>ion Experimental Farm at Indian Head. Bask. The rata- tion that always appealed to me was rotation (J) — first year, summer-fallow: second year, wheat; third year, wheat; fourth year, oats and barley seeded down; fifth year, hay; sixth year, pasture. There is one difficulty, however, where t^is rotation is put into actual operation on the farm: it is almost inipossible to get a catch of grass with a nune crop three years after 4 summer-fallow. In fact, on some farms where this rotation was being tried •nt, this difficulty was so Kreat aa to cause the rotation to be abandoned. MAINTBNAKCB OF BOIL FIBmS §f FiJ,JS^,«JL'*?r*^ "^^ wwdd b. lound to gi,, k,t»« i«Ai>- *i«t yi«r, ■ummer-f allow; leoond ye«r. wheat, leeded Itrome; third ymt. hay ^°^ ^: "J"^ -"d bf«k -rlar ia July iu,d badkNl ia 8«l«£r Sh jn-r, wh-t: «xtti y««. oaf «id huh,. It gim the mum a^pTTSt'eS lotation^ only that th^ are in a dii»«>t ammgnat ^Tolnf.^ « tt- «dicto«n of A. brom. «,d the l«k of moiatar. for th. «Jrf»hS •ft« tha paati«. The catch of graaa, howwer, wonld be a««d and th. wheat would ooBM after fallow and •od4)reakiiig. — «wi ana lae waeat Dr. Guaiuu : Do yon mean two rammer-f allow* I Sl'T^ ^^^ *^-^*° -t the time thehaycropwMb«ng taken offthe other field. The aftermath on the field that produced hay wouM be uaed for paatnre the remainder of the leaMn. Conclusion. The concluaions that we drew from the reaulto of the nirTey tu« «* A- 411. "• , *L" v' *'•!' " the key to the situation. The oonaerra. teonrf the fibre we already hare in the aoil and the returning of fibre to the deirfeted soib u the biggeat problem at present in soil management The ftre may be eonoerved by the use of farmyard manure, by the ploughing down of green crops and by the growing of fibrous-rooted crops. The fibrona-rooted crop that seems to be the most effeetiTe is bnnne. ^^ Dr. GwttALK: In going through Manitoba the past two dsys I saw many T7 !i^™"*f '*~?! ""'" °' ''*<^- ^ ^"W like to ask Professor Harrieon what ^ct weeds would have upon maintaining soil fibre, and »ho if he has attempted to diilerentiate humus or Tegetable matter from the fibre! Profeesor Habmson: Answering the last question first, I might state, that our work m the analysis of the soil is not yet complete. I hare juat giTen you the results of the ignition test, which is, aa I stated before not without qmsstion and it is cerUinly not an indication of the amount of fibre, althon^ I Miev« tile total amount of vettetable matter wiU have some effect on soil drifting. It IS better to have it in the form of fibre than in the form of humua. Dr. Ousdalb: Cw you teUt „v^?^' Harbison: Ton can tell if it eonUins fibre by the eye. We probably did not go into this just as fully as a soil expert would, but where we could see the grass roots in the soil there was little or no drifting taking pUce. Answering Dr. GrisdaVs other question, I would say that the ploughing down of weeds would return some fibre to the soil but it is a practice I would not <»re to recommend as tiie loss from the spread of weed seeds would probably be nearly as bad as the lose from the soil drifting. Professor Brarou): Did you find very much trouble in the eradication of brome grass on the farms yon visited t Professor Hawuson: Practically none. In some fields plants of brome grass could be seen growing with tiie grain, but the farmers said it did no harm. In most pla^ a little brome in die soU would be very useful in helping to prevent tne land from drifting. • ^^1 q«e«tion has been asked what about its eradication in tiie lower spots m the field. Our ezpenenee in growing brome grass in a Hmited way on tiie Manitoba Agricultural Ooll«re experimental lield, where we have a heavy day loam soa and a laige amount of moisture, is tiut we can completely kill it out m one year by breaking and backpeUing. • . "^P"^^'- ^ ^"^ ^ ''««"* *^* tl»« ™«» who •» most intimately mtarested shoula have a little private meeting to consider tiie best way of differmtiating, by a simple test, between whst is vegetable matter and what 14S7ft— Si comiisaioN of ooKaaavATioir !• oaOad tti» I think that U not oImt. It looki to ma tkat if tho amonnt of Vm, toa^ Hat, vhidi M wai d to bo tho difmcoo botwoon toib thst do drift and odMn that do not drift vai oomparatiTdjr imall, tiut aaii^t bdp na to vndnatand bow nracb fibre waa neewiary and bow long it wooU endwa in a fibrona atat% that ia, a bolding condition. Profeaaor Wtatt: I know of no voeifio or aim^e way in wUdi yon oonid diatingoiah qfiantiUtiToly batwaen organio mattor and tha aatarial whiob Profaaaor Hatriaon rtfan to aa "fibm." I jmfar to oaQ aB vag^aUa mattor in tha toil organio matter; that ia our ganaral tarm. Than ia, bowarar, a notbod of diatinguiahing betwean tha aotiva and inactive organio matter. Br detw- mining tha amonnt of organic Carbon and organio nitrogen wa are able to nae the' relation or ratio of the two aa an index to the actinty or organic matter. Eren thou^ thia method indicated that the orguiio matter of tha aofl were freah, it wonld not teQ 70a the unount of freah plant rootletat and I take it tiiat Profaaaor HarriaMi meana freah plant roota when ha qpaaka of ilbra. For actire organio matter the percentage of carbon to nitrogen ia propor- tionally higiier than ia the caae with the inaotiTe oiguio matter, and with tha proceaa of dacompoeition the carbon ia loat rdatir^ faater than the nitrogan; thus, when the oidbo-nitrogen ratio ia narrow it anggaata that the organio matter hu paaaed the atagaa of moat aotiTO deoompoaition. There ia, of oonrae, the meena of merely making obaerrationa of organio matter. There ia alao micro- acopio examination. Either of thaae will tell yon whether yon haTa freah or deotyed matoial. It will not, howerer, tell yon the amonnt of the relationahip. The method nied by Profeeaor Harrison with reapect to determining the loea of ignition, and oaing thaae reanlta as an index of the fibre content, ia open to objection for the following reasons: First, any sort of organio matter will be oxidised by ignition, jnat the aame as the filnre or fresh plant roota, but equal amonnta of organic matter may haTO deddeiUy leaa billing power upon the soil partidea than the fibr« haa. Second, ignition doea not alwaya aarra to datermina eren the amonnt \y£ organic matter in different t^pea of soil, $.g., many of the fine textured aoib upon ignitim may indicate the preaence of conaidaiable organio matter due to the tenacity with which they retain moiature at ordinary tonperaturea but which is given off before reaching the ignition point; and still a determination of the actual organic content may reveal amonnta diatinotly insufilcient to aocoimt for the loss caused by ignition. I would like to bring this fact before you for. conaideration, that the raanlta offered by Frofessor Harrison are very significant, in that they show, in prac- tically every instance, for the same type of soil, that where blowing occurred there waa from one to two per cent less loss upon ignition; also that one of the sandy loam soils which had an abundance of brome grass roots did not blow, and that it lost only 6 per cent upon ignition as compared with one of the day loams, with a loss of 12 per sent due to ignition, wl^ch blew badly. It would seem that the condition of fibre rather than the loss caused by ignition waa of greater importance in preventing blowing. Fundammtal PriadplM of SoU FertiUty Paor. B. Huraix Faculty of AgricMur,, UmptnUt, of Ba,hatek,wom. 8j,katoon. Bath. S^SSrS '^!^^ ^^ "Pon t»» futility of the «,il. wkI per- ^^^mn««qr >n .gnculture depends upon the maintewnoe ot th^& In new egricultural oonntriee, the oaoal prooedura ia to «»» — ^ r^^r^ """* *"• oommon pnotioe u to mine the land. Thi. JrLthl f.iL^r!,!^!«?.^K ^r»«^,«P«kui» thoee who come in to get rich quick oS«S ^ '^"~*'"""- TheUwofthewTTiT^rfthefltt^t Famine, due S"t»?T»"%°"**"irT"'.?°^ ^* •»»«»" "»* »>• wunindful to Depleted ®* *?« fete of wme of the older agrioultoral oonntriea. The Land. famme. in China, in India and in European Rueda W beeL ^ ^ .^""t ""j^ *o «**P^«*^ land»-land. thatSwe onoe fwHU, Y^ productire, and which hare now been abandoned or whichV^bJt TmSw^ The aTer.ce yield of wheat on the bUck «>il, of Bum?, babout eSt^tS," ^ T-^ ^ *^' ^^ ^^'^ State, we have ««Sk. of SdStio^i^d ^t:s. ':'::^vz'-'^ abunda.uin3 wi^Lt'S^'Xw-eJ PrInclplM of Soif Fertility The prujcipfe. which govern the maintenance of soil fertility de^e careful .tudy. Science tell. u. that aU of our a«? cultural pknta require a. food ten e»enti.l elements. t£» wate. and ^^y<^^^^X''^'^i ^^::7^::' S^t^z^':-^ constituting 6 per cent of mature pknts. are derired froml^eTu ^eT^ S^™' P"*^"?*' ?it«»««'. •ulphur. calcium, iron and mSi^iur thedtLt^?th1::;fLtl:^ao:^^^^^^^^^^ ^^« -^ -^ Tabu I.-Rilatiti " Sppplt aitd Dijund" of Seven Elements* Eaential pUnt-tood elemento Phpsphon is . . ■ RttMriun M^Biiliim.... fvl«fa m lR» Stfphar NHragaaiaidr Pbimdiin 2 million o( the average cnut of the euth 2.300 40,200 48,000 88,800 88,600 2,200 70 miUio. lb. Pounds in lOObinh. of corn (srain only) 17 10 7 '1 100 No. of yean' supply indioated 130 3.600 7.000 W.OOO 300,000 10.000 700.000 *Hopkias, Soil Permit, md P*rmtnt»l AgriaUm*. HHiiMaittlUi 70 COMMISaiON OF CONasmVATXOH CMitwito •f ••ila TU Mft of kai plM«hMl to A dipth «f H infihM, i* takn to iPrii^ 3,000,000 pooadi, aad tho oo ta Jo t ioao no wiim «pon tUa hud*. Tor tko pnvpoio of ooaDpvtBtioa, o jridd of 100 bwbds of torn to tho ton io oanoBO^ not at all oa ialnvMit yioU in the oom bah. Baaod oa lAoat, tho loadta woald bo aiaiilar. TUa Wblo oBphaaiaao aofwal vital poiata. Tirat, no iad that oaMoa, macBo- ainai, ino, miishm aad potaaainla ooonr vory IftaraUy in ralatioB to tho amonata noniiod. Oartain aoija. aotabljr paat, an drfoian* ia potaaainai, aad tho appli- eatkm of potaaainm aalta fliTaa iacioaaad yiaUa and ^oCta. Oa Bwat aonaal ■olla, howofor, ikmn ia anfloitBt potaaaima, aad tho pidblom ia to aiako tho inaoloMopotoaaiBmaTaiUblotoiilaBta. TUa ia oeoompHahad by proridJaif Ubwal aaiouata of oqraaio aiatter, andt aa fana auunira or orop raaidnaa, tho deoay of wiaok liborotea tho potaaainm In iM wom-OBt aoilt potaaaima aalta, awdi aa kainit, ara fnqnandy used, to tho ultiaato ruin of tho land. Potaaainm aalta hovo a atimnlatiaf effaet, haatoning tho aTailability of plaat food aad makinv poaaiblo gre ato r oropo tonq^warily, but proridinc for no rotora of tho matariala takan away. The oarth'a omat omntoina on an aTerago about 9,900 pounda of phorphorua to the aoK. Only the rioheat aoila approadi thia amount; in nmmal aoila tiie phoaphomi content may run from 1,000 to 9,000 pounda. On tho baaia of S04>udMl oropo of wheat, thia would anSce for from 100 to 900 yeara, if it were poaaiUo to remove down to Ihe laat pound, whioh, fortunately, wo cannot do. Boeauae of ita importanoe to aoil fertility, oiganks matter deeerraa oooaidera- tion. Organic matter ia aoppUed to the eoQ in aerwal waya: (1) by turning under crop reaiduee, aa atiMle, atraw, com otalka, eto.; (9) green manuring, for itbxA purpoee legaminoua cropa are moat commonly uaod; (8) paatnring, the moat economical method of supplying manure, since the coat of hauling and spreading is <«aTed and tibe losses due to fermentation in the manure pile are avoided ; (4) spreading manure, tho benefito of which aro fully appreciated in the older agricultural regions. In a ton of wheat atraw there is enough nitrogen to make 7-1 foudids of wheat, enouf^ phorpborus to make 6-7 bushels of wheat and enough potaaainm to make 89-9 bushiBis of wheykt. This doea not mean that if we applied a ton of atraw we could expect IJhis increaae in yield; it is simply stating that we return that amount of material, and the aoil would be ^t mudi richer. In on* ton of farm manure there is enough nitrogen to make 71 buahda of wheat, enough phor- phorua to make 19-6 buaheb of wheat, and enough potassium to make 30-8 bushels of wheat. I think, however, the value of farm manure \» fully appreciated. Organic matter turned under ia the source of humus to the soil. Most of the facte about hnmua are generally known. It inqwoves the tilth of the land, increases the capacity to hold moisture, holds the soil together to prevent drifting, provides a oertain amount of i^ant food, and aids in the 13>vation c. plant food. The actively decaying organic matter is all important in making plant food available, and we diatinguiah between actively decaying organic matter and the humua in thia regard. I use the word "humus" iJthough I know it is outK>fHiato, but we ge»e > regard humus as being the residual nutter after the organic matter has decor 3d; it is the portion which is reaiatant to decay, though it doea slowly decay, peoially through cultivii.' a. It ia the actively decaying organic matter which, in the proceaa of decay, produeea certain aeida which, in turn, diakolve or make availabi* certain plant food. This is one of the benefits secured from the application of manure or the turning under of green manure. In the com bdt I have seen sweet clover standing as high as a horse's head ploughed under for the purpose of soil enrichment Value of Organ le Matter rsiNciPLsa o» aoii. ranTiLiTT •! NItragwi «O08Bedfai» oropt until it luu tone thiougli vrqwratoir prooenM. IWlt u brokm down to •maonu. then boUt up to niWtTttd ASTtrX-tfT* J ^ UiwUeh«op.tdM it from the toil TW pwiSi £^.2^ ^ 'T It ha* bflen determined by Dr. Frank T Slmtf ./*.. «» i of anik at TnJU. !!„ J au * ... *'""'• after anal.v^<>ii Do^na^u. workTitnl^^^J^S^S^nrt^TtSrlC'lS^^ In the plooi^ied acre^ to a depth of M inohaa. the loaa i^t««l. aI! ! ^ " ratiou wa. «,n.ethin, like Sk> H».. wWrip^S. of cS^.^'Sii^'JS; amount of organic matter. wuno, a tremendoua '*'*'•«•'' 5!l!li!I!?'' T* ?°!*^ *" " •^"^ but a trw. of nitrogen. pound, would be enough for SOOyem of SO-buiw .^^^TiLt bS a iZ'sllJ case if diadpatl^ ^ operation., eapecially the .ummer-fallow. In coMidering nitrogen, the queetion of organic matter .honld be con.M««J The advantage, of growing leguminou. crop, are widely kT.»«n tj..^ Innoeulatlon !!Z*Ll,t^ "^'f** "^J^'^ *"'*^*'.^P'""*^''''- Rmt. that of Lagumt. ?"'"" inoculated, luileu nodule, are produced on the roott l««um- .♦ *y^ inou. planta behave aa do ordinary farm crop^ liying%S^ JL^ ^^ °^*f» «'^?'' ^^^<>^- Second, Uie fact Z^S ^*"£ ^ut two-thirf. of It. mtrogmi .upply from the air and or^third from the^J i?«.^t''"l!!^*'^ occur, in the top. and on^third in the rZ S SSS: il 1 **^v" '«*'"* ^*' " *«» ^°' J«y' *!«"• i. no gain in mteogan f«r the wiU but an eren .pHt. Thi. ia, of coutm, an adrwiti^TS ordij^ c«,p, which take thmr entire .upply from the wiL But eTeS^l.n^ alfalfa or tweet doTer top. eontain. 40 to fiO pound, of nitrogen, w that ereiy TJ OOMMISaiON OF CONI tax taraad vmim m gtum wtamvn k aqMl to 4 «r S «•■• of WnyMd (Wngrwd aMBvn ooaUliw tai poaadi ti aitNgM tor tat) m tu nhragw k MBoanod. Tho ofguk BMtlHr te ako iavettaBt ia that H hviM aod aalMi pbat food tToikbia Oiey fotitioM koTo a boariag oa taU fvtUity, tad I oalr waat lTv^IS" te *««^ OB Mwal fMto. At RothwMtod, whMt gmra ia • "^^""""^ rotatioawitlMnitfifftiUntioBhMyi«ldd«b«MoMaBaww» ofMyMH. Ia a Add grawa ooottaaoailf to wkMt tha «▼«•«• TiaU «•• It't tiwh o h Barligr ia lotaUoa Kftnatd 9i-1, whan t m •oettaaoao ktfkr afwaftd bet H't Vaibola. Or^ ratatioa aakw poioiUo groatir oiopo, ud Imbm aMkti gTMttr draft of pkat food fraaitlM ooiL .It io tho atoot lOeitBt way of d^pJktiBC tho mU of iti ftrtiUty. It haa boea • ooaoaoa tnor to baliovo that enp rotatioB fartiliaad tho aoil aad aiado iaoioaaad piodaotioB panaaaaatly poaalUak Saa^ howavar, ia aot tho oaa* Wharo tbo ratatioa almaa gava 96 boahab of whaat; fartiliaation inorcaaed tb« yield 84.9 bnihcla; with barley the rotatioa gava 9t.7 bwhala without fartiliaar aad M» baabak with fartiliaar. Tantipa ia tho a«M ratatioa yioldad thirtaao-fold wh«i tetiUaad orar tho aaf artiUaad aa aa avanga of Wyaaia. Thia oridtBoa ia aot to bo ooattraad aa boing oppoaad to erap ratatioaa. Bathar it ia in ita f aroar. It ia oar parpoaa to pradaeo laigo orapa, ^d, in ordar to do aok wo muat aipast to draw praportionataljr upon tho aoiL Oar ooaoava ia to aoo that tho aoil laeka nothing that it aaada to prodnoo auziBnua ykidi. To ratnra to tho aoil tha thiaga that ara remorod in aneh amonnta aa will limit crop yialds, and to ottpply any defieienciea that may exist ahould be our aim. Aside from defldaDey of plant food, two eoaditioaa froquaa^ Aliu!linltv*ef '"^ "^ '^^ ^ *^ detrimant of cmp prodnotion. Thaao ara g^ll, ^ soil acidity and alkalinity. Acid aoils an moat oommonly found on tiie older worn soils in the huntid aeotiona, duo to tha gradual le a chin g out of tho limestone. Soils of Itmestona origin ara fraquantiy aoid or sour on top. though underlain with limestone rook. The eheapeat and moat effectiTo correction is to apply finely ground limeatone, at tha rata of oao or two tons per acre, depending upon the defrree of acidity. Alkali soils ooour moat frequently in the arid and aemi-arid regiona, whan tha 'alkaline salts hsTe accumulated a a«r aaila. Fartha* woik abaaUha Ngtfdiat tito aaaaata and aftha naOBMUMii! Kay 1 aak Dr. Oiiadala if thay naai awaal aiofar ia It ia kaawB to iatrateea paAapa 40 to 80 paaada ol aitntaa par Tha foiat I waat to aaika bow, kowarar, ia, would it aot ba a good tort of plant to iaaofporato ia tba aoil baeaaaa of ita tbrou ooa^tioa^ ila aaduriac quaUtiaat Plooi^daf aadar arii^t aot ba adnuat««ww, or acowaaia from a prod»«akiaff ataadpwlat, bat it mi^t ha«« -falua is hal^nf aoUi to raooiw ia •uhaafaaat jaaiBk Dr. Oaanaa: I bava ao doabt tbat awaet oiovar eoald bo uaed for thia parpoaa; but, n^ara ytm oan groiw awaat oloTcr laocaaafully aad know how to haaiQa it, it would ba a ahaaM to toro it down for manorial yarpoaaa. It would ba mneh battar to uaa it lor aaimal food and thaa ratnrn tha maanra. Aa Prolmaor Haaaaa baa atotad, larnaM add a oouudarable amouat of flbra and aitrociB ia tha aoil wUx^ would aerra tha purpoae of nouriihinc tha loil aad halpiat it to baooBM wiad raaiaUnt I thfowfore think wbila awaat olortfr would ba a good crop for tha purpoaa, aiaoa it haa to be aeeded dowa like aay other oloTor or graaa, it woaM maaa a pratty difieult. or rathar, an aacpenaiTe, way oi ■ettinf. the craco maauroi It ia not like peas or rttduit, that eonld be grown without any troidtle, ooniparaitiT«l7 ipeakiag, and turitod under. In the peaa and retohea we alao have the leguminotia qnalitiaa of the eweat oIoTer, ao that, in my opinion, it would not be edriMdUe a» a green manure or for ibre^ austipt in the way I hare aiantioned. In th«t connection, there i» another obaarration that nuiy be worth referring to. Whure mouture i* the limiting factor in crop produc- tion in Weatem Canada, the Icvumaa requiring such a large amount of moiatnre, we perfnpa wonld he produeing JSbi« at a Tfry heavy facrifk't; of moiatnre which we might need later on for tb^ growing of ^^heat Profeaaor HAnaix : I do not went it to he underatocd I waa reoommendlng a rotation including sweet clover; I waa merely adrooating the prineiplM of toil fertility. The importance of those principles hag descended to us from the older agricultural regiona, where they, too, have been obliged to resort to things of this sort. I wished to show the reason why those things should coma ttbout In the com belt, aweet dover is rairidly replacing red clover and red clover has been grown a great deal through that country as a toil improver. The reason is the greater bulk and also the greater succulence of tweet clover. It docompoaea mtire readily in the toil and makes plant food avaikble. It is a me&od of renovating tome of the older cropped soils. 14; Soil Drifting in SoutlMm Albnta W. B. Fmuiblb Sup«rinte»iUnt SxptriwuiUal SttHci, LttXbridgt. Alia, IN dMlinc paitieaJkrir with Mil dnftinj u w* Jwre extMritBc^ it in Mutiicrn Albert*, let it be nadtrttood that this n not tiui aaly pUco it hu oemmd, but tbf>r« ««* pnhMp* • larger are* of crop deatroyed this jfMr where tb*) soil would be oloaaed as anythii^g but a light aand. In ti»e area deaoribed there has, in my judgment, been 75.000 aoree of crop absolutely dMtroyed by soil drifting. This land i» all settled, and from it eaccellent crops hare bean obtained. Between LethfcritlRD and Madeod improvemenU on th« famsteadk are abore the arerage, good buildifigs obUin, and housea with modem conTenienoe*. auch as wectnc lighto and water sytti^ms, are not uncommon. The primary cause of tihe extensive soil drifting that we : i ■ (ixperiencing to an increasing extent from year to year is duo zj Sell OrHtlng J^Jan^ff-^allowing. On aooouni, of our light rainfall, summar- fallowing is a meeseity, and never can be entirely eliminated from any aucccssful qr«t«m of farming that may be introduced. The aunnner- fallow is a naccsaity in the drier regions because we do not get enough rain oadi season to produce crops, and, by preventing vegeUtion growing for one aummer, a large emonn of the moisture that falls ga« intf, the soil and is carried orer in our close subsoils to the following season to supplement the rainfall during tk* season that the crop i» growing. By this system of farming it has been possible to raise cereals in the drier portions of the Prairie Provinoes that would other- wise not make satiafoetory mturas. When the Isnd was first broken up, the large mass of vegetable matter, in the form of root fibre, ia tho aoil prerented it from being affected by the heary winds, but, by continuous cultivation, especially where the land was left so often as a bare fallow, this v.^p.t«ble mtttar was uead up, *nd th» pbysica! texture of the soil soon changed, leaving it in a condition that would r»>adilj drift. The drifting is noticeuble first on light sandy soils, but in time it ia apt to occur on ell kinds of soil. Primary Causa of 70 COMltlSSION or CON8KRVATION Thk troobla hat not bean eonfinad to Waatara Canada, bat haa baen aqpari- Moed in many of th« autaa on the plaina area lyinc diiaotljr aaat of tha Booky monntaina. It ia intereating for u< to obaarra liow tbay have mat tha difienlly, and, m a great many eaaaa, aatiifaetorily overcome it Their mothodi, wfaara thex tncoeeded in doing ao, have been baaed on the intelligent uae of oora or some of the quick-growing eorgoma. PropoMd MaUtede ef Oantrel irrigation it diminated. A brief outline of the methods of control that might be aao fuliy adopted for our conditiona in aouthem Alberta and souths weatem Saikatohewan could be given aa follom: — First: Irrigation. Where it is possiUa to obtain watar for ia obrioua thst the problem of soil drifting could be entirdy «u«uj.>.<~. It would not be neoeasary to reaort to aummer-faUow^thare bwng no place for summer-fallow on an irrigated farm, aa there ia no naeq to oonaerra moiatnra. There would be large areas devoted to alfalfa and other haji, diversified fanning would at once be begun, all forms of live stock oonld be profiUbly maintained, and a permanent, reliable revenue would be a nnu a ll y obtained from all land irrigated. Second : Although irrigation is a porfect cure for the trouble where it esn be obtained, there must alwaya remain a large proportion of the land unirrigatod, probably 80 or 95 per cent. On thia land it will be neoeaaaiy to inaugnzato community effort, on the importance of which too much aUesa cannot be laid. For 6san:.ple, one man may farm hia land in auch a way, even a aummer-faUov, that it ia not drifting; if the land on the farm to the weat of him atarta to drift, it will blow over on to him, and soon get his land in the same condition and ao the trouble, of, to be more literal, the soil goes merrily along. r* ird: Our climatic conditions are not the same as they are in the United St'im where soil drifting has occurred. We cannot raise com ss a money crcv; that is, we cannot ripen the grain, so that we cannot adopt methods exactly eimilar to those used in ilie United States. We will, therefore, have to woric out for ourselves the details that will fit our conditions. Fourth: A change to diversified farming is necessary. We will have to reduce very mater)(lly the amount of land on each farm that is devoted to the growing of cereala, and adopt a rototion whom a portion of the land ia kept seeded down to grasses, from which in wet seasons hay will be obtained, and in all seaaons some pasture. With this method the live stock holdings will increaae, for thcQr will be required to consume the forage and pasture crops. By the carrying of live stock, it will be possible to have more manure available to apply to the land to help restore the humus in our soils, the depletion of which is so readily indicated by the soils starting to drift. Fifth: The introduction very generally of winter rye to sow on our summer-fallow, for the reason that this crop occupies the land at the period of the year when soil drifting is most likely to occur, vix., Aurmg the late winter snd early spring months. Sixth: A frank recognition of conditions as they exist This will mean that farmers generally in the drier areas will have to realize that it will not be bafe for them to devoto their entire land holdings to the production of spring (train, as has been done in ihe past. The duty will devolve upon the authorities to inaugurate a oomprehensivs soil enrvey. When this is done, it will be possible to determine the Incalities where the land is too sssdy and light to be suitable for general farming, and such areas may be seeded back to grass for pastoral purposes. Dr. GnsDALi : Has irrigation any detrimental effect on alfalfa seed produc- tion? I know in parte of California where they started irrigation they had a great reduction in yield of seed. BOIL DRIFTING IN SOUTHERN ALBERTA 77 Hr. FAmniLD: The loodaotion of alfaHa Med is as yet rery limited. Prec- tioally aU of the aUelfk seed i* prodnoed on diy lend with alfalfa planted in rowi. Pnotieally without eseeption titey are unable to raise seed on alfal& planted in the ordinary way in the irrigated area. It grows too much to stem. Alfalfa grown in rows in the wheat field produced nearly always a good or a fair crop of alfalfa seed, and t^iat is cut along with the mustard seed. Mr. Pkabce: alfalfa seed! Ai-e yon familiar witb Mr. Barton's experiments in producing Mr. Faiuuld: Mr. Pearoe refers to the work of Mr. Barton, of Brooks, in raiung alfalfa aoed. In 1918 he had two or three acres of alfalfa, idanted in ike ordinary way and irrigated, that produced a manrelloua yield of alfalfa seed, about 16 bushels to the acre. This is an exceptionally high yield, and I think Mr. Barton himself admits it is the only time he has erer seen that. I am oidj speaking in generalities when I say alfalfa seed is not produced on irrigated land. Dr. Gbuiuu: What about liie quality of potatoesY Mr. FAntmLD : The quality of potatoes on irrigated land appears to be quite as good as on dry land Some of the farmers on irrigated land do not iuve potatoes of as good a quality as those on dry land, but, with reasonable experience and ca/e, as good potatoea can be grown on irrigated land as on dry land. Dr. Oamuu: I presume that the advocates of irrigation will admit that in spite of the abundance of water, the soil will gradually lose its fertility unless mme means are taken to avoid it Would one of the advocates give us a little light on the aubjectt Mr. FAmmLD: We have always felt, in the Letfabridge district, in i«gard to fertility on the irrigated land, that eoonomic reasons would take caie of that Alfalfa is much more profitable to grow than oereals, anc^ to diqwse of alfalfa nnd other hays profitaUy, we must have the live stodc The increase in our live stock holdings would mean that we would have a great deal of manure. Dr. Gbudale: You found immediate results from the application of farm* yard manure t Mr. Faibfiilo: Tea. Mr. Pkamx: I unctestood from Dr. Oriadale's address that there was very little difficulty in most of that country in getting manur& About eight miles from Calgary, manure is piled up to a considerable depth. That manure is from the stockyards and, as yon know, is not composed largely of straw, because they are pretty economical of bedding in the stodcyards. It is tn utter impossibility to get that to rot. Very little farmyard manure about the farms in Alberta and Saskatchewan will rot at alL With the aid of irrigation it may be rotted. I am going to vuike a suggestion with regard to the application of fertiliser. I was farming to the extent of 30 or 40 acres, and I put all my fertilizer on to the land in liquid form. I drew the manure from the stable at Calgary and put it in a reservoir, ran water into the reservoir, and ran the liquid manure out from the nservoir on to the land. I found it very satisfactory, and the astonishing thing about it was tihat, speaking conservatively, there was not over 6 per cent of what 1 put in that reservoir that I had to clear out; it all went out in the form of liquid. Of course, the manure I put in was better than the average, for the reason that it was all horse and cattle stable msnuie. The finest irrigation system I think there is in Canada is that of Messrs. Hiram Walker & Sons, in the neigh- bourhood of Windsor, Ont They use all the fertilizer in liquid form on the land and it is a model farm in the way of fertilizing. The liquid can be pumped up and distributed over the land ; it can be done cheaply and is moat efficient n coMMiaatoN or consbrtation Pra&Mor Conn: I would like to adc if tlwre u« kaown cultnnd methods that wifl hdp to orercome our pment Mrioiu diflevltiee of muI driftinc or blonriac. We hun thia ^zoUcbh bafbfe u* to allemte at oooe^ if poMiUe. Is it known wkether, for inetanoe, the rod eultiTatnr haa baoi a ■aaBewt I baliefe it hat been tried in the Letfabri^ oonntry. Alao, if any onltDral melhode have been emidoTed that wiU help to remedy somu of the difioultieo that are surrounding the farmer who finds hie aoil blowing. Mr. Fahiuij): BpeaUng iMoa^, oultnral methods will lewcn ■nty materially the ohaaoes of Uowing firom our summer-fallows, but I do not believe that tiiey wiU entirdy eliminate it Professor Cutler spoke of the rod eulttrator. W« have a vary good example of iriiat good cultural methods will do in the NoUe Foundation at NoUeford. It was in the fall of the year that the bad drifting took plaoe. The inineiple that Mr. Nle to pay the interest, and repay the capital on this expenditure during a term of say thirty yaaa, ia dearly demonstrated by the results shown in the following: — ooxpAKATin nnn.n or 60-acre plots. On this account the yields are higher than would probably hvn been the case had the fields been larger. The comparative results are no doubt the aame — i.e., the per cent of increase due to irrigation is the same as would have been the case had the fields been larger. On the dry land the crops were in all oases planted on »»mmer-fallow land. On the irrigated land the grain crops were grown on land that had raised a hoed crop of some kind the year previous, and the potatoes were usually planted on grain land. Comparative yields of alfalfa and timothy are not given, for the reason that the returns from these crops have been so low on the dry land that it waa hardly thought worth while to tabulate them. On the irrigated part of the farm the average yidd of cured alfalfa for the past ten years h«s been considerably over four tons per acre. Some seasons it has exceeded five tons per acre. This ia the weight of the hay as it wa'. hauled to the bam or stack. There are no rdiable statistics available givirp ^ average yield for the district but it is probably in the neighbourhood it three tons per acre. Individual farmers of course obtain more than thia. Timothy being cut but once yidda less. From one and one and a half tons to over two tons per acre is the usual haweat. Results From Alfalfa and Hay Grown With I rrlgatlon IRRIQATION IN SOUTHERN ALBERTA 9i Irrigation Wlirpiiy Hhtory •! LMhbrMg* Nertham Taking wheat alone at an index, it will be noted fram this tabk tbat wheat production on "dry" land aTances 80 baihela par acre, which, allowing for •ummer-fallowing half the acreage eaeh year, giraa IS buihela annually, againtt 58 buahala annually on irrigated land— an isieraaae of Si timcb in production. ETen at pre-war pricea of around 80 cenU a bnahel, and cutting down the eatimated production to 40 buahda, there would be a groaa return of 988 per acre per annum. Or, again, figuring in terma of alfalfa at the low rata of 8i tona per acre at aay $10 per ton, there would be a groaa return of |S6 per acre annually. So we are Ulking about a prored prafitable luaioeaa, on ioila eminently fitted for irrigation, and in a climate which for fifteen yeara haa not failed to ahow profitable rewlta. The Lethbridge Northern Irrigation I>ktrict ia goremed by the Alberta Irrigation District Act paased April 10^ IMO; this Act govema all irrigation diitricts ia Alberta. Water nin^Iy and ma n age me nt fall under the Irrigation Act of the Dominion of Canada. The district was formed in September, 1919, and three trusteea were then elected. The district haa its own aecretary, and it also haa its own engineer and Btaff. AU of ita operations are supervised by aa " Irrigation Oouncil " appointed by the proTinoe of Alberta. A fecial Act, alao paaaed April 10, 1920, called " An Act to assist the Leth- bridge Northern Irrigation Diatrict," proTidea that the province of Alberta guaranteea all first mortgages on the lands included in the diatrict, thus making way for the debenturea of the district as a first charge on the landa; and the Act also providea that the province will guarantee intereat * *° further irrigation development. The lands now under irrigation around Lethbridge, roughly 88,000 acres, made a gross production record in 1919 of $64.71 per acre; so it is hardly to be wondered at that those other areas to which water may be brought are most anxious for irrigation. There are three other districta whose lands caa be watered, like the Leth- bridge Northern, from all-Canadian streams. They are the United District, west of Oardston, 15,000 acres irrigable; the Lone Rock, north of that, 10,000 acres; and the South Macleod, 80,000 acres. 14378—8 . COMMISSION or CONSBRVATION TIm Dominion Bechmation Swrioe » oompletinv lumgra oa wme of i a» welt as on land* aruund Luinond, Travers, Juichaiit, and Sundial, nortbeaat of Lathbridgv, whieh may gat wate lor 100^000 aoMa on an wtanaion of tha Lethtoidg* NorUiam cank. In addition to th aa e , irrigation may be carried to great area* aonth and caat of Lethbridge, roughly 400,000 aoret, from the waters of the St Mary and Milk rirera; but theae ttreama are not all-0ana4Uan and the qnaation of tbe diTiaion of the nae of the waters ia now under disonaaion and adjudieation between United States and Oanada before the International Joint Oommiaaion, An eariy solution of thia situation is eagerly looked for. It is eurioua to the people around Lethbridge, who know so wdl the bensAta of irrigation, that their QoTemment of the province of Alberta takea eroy atep in the direction of helping irrigation deretopment apparently with great fear and trembling. It appears to be hard for the QoTemment to see the rision of a potential productive capacity from 500,000 acres of landa already fully settled by eiperienced fanners, and over the area of which the continuing fertility of the soil would be aesured all through the years. Perhaps thia viaion is otMcured by the earlier mistakea, now M^atakM bappily rectified, that were made bodi in the management of the Rectified great irrigation projects of the Oaaadian Pacific lUQway on their lands east of the city of Calgary, and by some of the settlers on these lands. Some of theae grave errors have been publicly acknow- ledged as audi, and some have been recognized in what after all ia the best method— a quiet reversal of policy. With all the aafegnards that have been devised for the management of irrigation districts; with the Irrigation Council of Alberta in direct auperviaiom of the farmer-trustees; and by the general overlooking eye of the Dominion Reclamation Service, there is no need to fear that every project wiU be carefully acmtiniaed in all ita eration8; and no doubt need be fdt that these public irrigation projects will, very soon after their practical inception, command the sound financial credit to which they will be entitled. Influence of Windbreaks on Field Grope BT NORliAK M. Ko«8 Chief, Tree Planting Division. Dominion Forettry Branch, Indian Head. Sa$k. WHEN the quMtion of the effects of windbreaka or tree belU on the growing of field cropa is to be considered it is an extremely difficult matter to make any really definite statements other than those based on general obswra- tion. So far as I am awar^ no scientific examination along the line has erer been conductod in the Canadian prairie regions, and but very litUe in the United *^:,^ ****• **" ^'"*** ®***^* ^°'*'* Service published a buUetin, No. 86. " Windbreaks, Their Influence and Value," by Carlos Q. Bates, covering the results of a very detailed examination in Kansas, NAraska, and southern Minne- sota. The bulletin consisto of 100 pages, and is very fully illustrated. It is to our knowledge the only work containing official data on this subject as applied to prame conditions, so that very much of the information which follows has been drawn therefrom. Some extracts are taken verbatim from the bulletin. FsVttlJSi*!.! Windbreaks may have good as well as detrimental influeuoes on Wind-breaks aiist few years, soil drifting has caused immense losses in many parte of the three Prairie Provinces. The trouble is probably most appar, nt in Alberta and western Saskatchewan, where it has become a most serious problem, with every prob- ability of danger from this source increasing unless some plan or method can be found for counteracting it. 14Sr»— 7 M COMMISSION or CONaBHVATION The qtu^on ia, to what extent wonld the plaatiiif of tne bdto £y SffJ?^™*"*^ conditions, and would ranh tne belts insnre protwtion ^ afeinet demace from eoil driftinc. It mej be taken as a fact that tba effeetiTe valae of a windbteak ia in proportion to its heiffbt Over tmmi^-in jmn ago, Dr. SaundMn endtodiad in one of his reports the resulto of his art, yot this very slight protection made all the difference between a crop of 40 bushels per acre and a total failure. The two cases above are examples of the actual value of shelter belts iti protecting against soil drift, and under similar conditions no doubt like bencSt« would result in almost any district Accordinpf to data published in the United States bulletin abovp referred to, it was found that, actually, the average width of crop which may be protected by a belt is not more than 20 times its height. This would mean that a belt 20 foet high would protect 400 feet in width. Measurements actually made showed that with a 25-mile-per-hour wind blowing in the ojien. at a point five times the height away from and on the lee side of a belt of trees the wind velocity was only .'> miles per hour. " In Marion county, Kansas, 35 or 40 years ago soil drifting threatened the uwfulness of farm lands of that section. Soil drifts several feet deep can still be seen in lanes and along roads, which were at that time protected by low hedges or fences which formed traps. With the planting of many hedges of osage orange the movement of soils ceasoil."' TfMt MMl Curiae* IvaporatlMi eraporatioB. wind relochjr. •pacing of TrM Bait* INFLUBNCB or WINDBRBAXS g§ The effecta of tree belu on •urfaoe evaporation ara nry marM aooorJin, to Bat*.: -Th. efflci«.cy of . windbreak i^chSriS ev.porat.ou .. proportionitl to iu donaity. It may -v. .tTSS point uj«rtmne ca«» 70 p^ cent of the moi.to; «.uJJ{rV!S, ■ l^-'^SlL^ •"'* **• T"f^ Protwrtion i. felt inere.^, with th« W-fc* ?» ♦JtS *!!!!2'^" " ,'M>^'«W« fo' • diiUDce equal to flv« timaa jhj^hjjtot m the windward d.««tion. and flft«. to tw^ty tiL. th. ^iTZ It U auggeated that evaporation from the aurface of atoram ».««»:.. s_ wide to leeward by at leaat 80 per oent.'«» •'apor.i.on in a field JO iwfa I think enough haa been aaid to show abM^utely tljat tree (wd». A. »,«„ «.U.^ i»port«.t inHuence. both in checking ^/d^lJfir.n^rn tn^Tii: comi«tiv^ ^1 t>n ^!ii?1.'*K • •'f"""*'^ ^"^ •««'• ^ '"«"«'« *»« comparauveiy large crop areaa which in the oaat few wwann. k.„. ...a i effecta at the winda can be leaaened in aome way ? «nwpng In oonaidering the practical «de of thia problem. wo«ld it be better to have wide bdl. .paced at comparatively k^ inte^ah! »ay every quarter-mile, or single rows of .nnh «J-.^ cara^na or .pruc. at comp^-.tivdy close intor^lT o^ iJo ya^^TSr " tne ease oi s^u^le rows. The system followed wmiM i.~,j- j_ "^ isTvmaa in local farmin, operations. If st^ i^T^aT^nutea^^T'' t 8y.t.matle , CZ,"**"". *^ *t"'? "°* *^ ''» **='»»^ »«ttin« trees to irrow Tp.. Planting '^«* '^ proper methods are followed they can be grown d^T' EsMntlal -^y anyw^«.. The chief trouble will be in devUir^meTrt tical ayatem for carrying out this work «n . i.Jj JT • uniform manner. Until om, Wks dosdy into ti^e aTwecri. sir. '" " t.vely e^ flatter to go ahead «,d plant up «t«a8ive tj^\eftr!!^ T"" and advice in plen^ from men with nn ^,rLT ■ J , "' "*'' ^'^Kgestions this qu«rtion of wfndZT "Ss^S^""" " """"'^ «»"» ^'-'^ -^erever comparatively largTd sSic^ Sr*; ulf "*' '""'* ^ °" " '•'«« »«»'« »'« 1. Whero iaX stkl cJ^: 'w"" '""'^ ""* ^'^ ^ considerod:- ^i S:r"-rcUt^n:s'tisST=it ^-^^^^^-^ - --^^^ sectiL'^t:iS"SC?'"*''^' ''" ^" '''"'- *--' - -^- which the belts should ^ plan^ ^a^c^ ^ in Les wtj^be t^T'^ "" ^ot in_syn^thy_withjuch a movement? *•"* """** *"^ OOMMItaiOM or CONta«VAT10K M • uaaitellathe hr lliCMM Undoobtadly wnwtMiit dmUd hs fvtoTC} ui0«Ma<9r. too* mmm ynwtiwl w Kbod l«» k* Iwmi if tk* MMw a oaljr giw th* ooaaid wrti oa Mb. ia wtotka ta tlM •frioBltanl if tht FiBiria PtavlMH. TiMOiaiaioB OmwiiBiial hmt pot 4>wb wdb oa «h« toed ^ aflHiaa lM(fi«oi3r> TUa avvKo*** that pariups a tvM- ia wdar to alww ita aflaeta ia preramung Mil driltiat— ka aithaa hi if-'* or daHteaatal aia ot a eoald ha aavriad oat U te aiaaa aoald ba fooad foi iaatitatiat tha aa^ariiaaat. It aaald alia ba oanrtod oat aa a laiia aeak ak»< tarritoqr »••> thia oitjr. H. L. PATMoaa (Scaadoa) : I hava atodiad lUa auttw eoatinuonalj for tha paat tkiitr yaaia. la 1M». aoil driftins ol tha tmr vooat daaoriptioa waa to be foaad oa tha Bnadea Sxpwimantal Fana. Ia a law jraaia' tiiaa that faia, thfoagh tha caHiTatkm of traaa on tha weat •id^ oaaaad drifting. Mr. Bedford waa aaanrittiid with na ia IBM on a piaoa of aoil that blew oat abnoat avaqr waak duriac tha auaaur aaaaon. right down to hard-pas. Now, with tha iatro* duotioa of traa-balta^ thara ia not a bit of drifting soil oa that pkook aad tha aoil haa aot driftad ainea; aran tha bard-pan hat coma into ouItiTation again. Mr. Boaa apaaka of the adriaability of more tiaa-belta. Laat wedi, in tha aouth- Biiiaiu portion of thia proriaoa, I foaad atan who haTo baan than SO or M jraart — man who have nude a snooeM. Dunnjt the past nix month* theae men hare baaa loaiag much they have made. I found men to-dajr willing to take |W to $90 aa aere for the land, to enable them to get away. The district whara I waa laat week waa abaoluta prairie 30 yean ago; part of it ia atitl abaolnta prairie. One man who went in tb«re had a great lore for tieea, aad he started to plant thaoL A near neighbour thought, " If you can gat a nioe bait of traea I can go one better," and ha atarted to grow more, with the laenlt that to-day a tract of country AC to 70 milaa in extant ii full of treea and free from aoil drifting. That ia a tract of country oa which, during the yean 1898-4-5, ihcy had no crop wbatarar. The aoil drifted and cropa were blown out and dried out eaoh year, but they told me on Saturday that they have nerer known a crop faifaue ainoa the traea have grown. On one-half aeotion there are tome thirty belta. The effect the treea have had upon these farma in southweatem Manitoba baa been that it haa given them, although probably not heavy cropa aoata yeara, yet continuous crops with no failurea. Profeaaor Outlbb: It seema to me we have suflcient information, in the papen that have been given to-day and from obaervation, with reapect to wind- breaks, to at once consider definite ways and means under which the whole of these prairies could be systematically planted. We are past the stage where we can expect individual effort to get anywhere. That has been very well exemplified fay the paper given by Mr. Boss. I could give many exparienoea where eameet men have endeavoured to establish windbreaks, and, after a number of aeasons' efforts, they have succeeded in doing so only to loae out later becauae a neighbour, perhapa, auramer-fallowed a piece of land oa the lee aide of the windbreak. It would be a pity if this conference were to break up without, in a definite way, devising some meana of getting something atarted at once. The Qovemmenta might consider aubaidizing some individual or community effort. I bdieve this ia the moment to act The soil-drifting problem has been presented yeaterday and to-day. We appreciate it, and we appreciate the importance of Rolving it as soon as possible. From Mr. Fairfield's address, we know that it would be quito impossible, by crops or by any cultural methods, to stop blowing under some of these conditions where the whole ffl^ow sliced off, or, at least, where all the soil that has been tilled haa been blown away. ^* seems to me windbreaks would be the solution, and I would be glad to ^"r svme atepa taken. IMVLUBMOB or WIMDBRBAKI Tte Oum$UM: Om mmt kw ia tlMt itppoteiwl ••wdcafM ltiT«( ■iBd that tUs OoouBiMioB, u hM tem ' M ateiaiMntiTC body. Tht !lj*»!2!*f •■»«'*«"«^ wwk would bo adfu -mt thM Mr. W^SiiS ZI7 ^USS" 7" ' ""^ ""■•^ •»«^ woBld MMBt to bar* tSrZLCrikftjtii ? "f •«« tbo Oomio»oi> The Weed Menance and ite CVmtrol Farm* arc too large ■T Pmf. S. a. Bkditobo ChMtrman, Weed* Commution, Maniteha WEEDS arc riffhtly oalled robben, for they deprive tiie aoil of both food and moisture. Aa a rule, the toil of the treat oaa apare tome of iU plant food, but, owing to the oomparatively light rainfall we need all the moiituru obtainable. tot thin m^n, noxious weoda are perhapa a greater menace bore tliau iu any other portion of Canada. Owing to the extremely rich aoil of the Red Kiver valley, certain very noxious weeds, inch aa aow thistle and Canada thistle, tbrivt- and spread iu a most remarkable manner and frequently completely nmotltcr the crop of grain. A large proportion of the farms in all parts of the province of Manitoba are too large, and thegr are frequently owned by non- reeidents, who have very little peiaonal interest in keeping the land clean. Tenants with uhort leases are often very indifferent about the condition of the land, and are a source of trouble to the inspector)*. In common with all new countries offering cheap land, many incxperienciH] men undertake to farm for themadves, instead of first gaining ex^xiriuncH with a successful farmer. Such men are badly bandicspped from the surt, and their land quickly becomes weedy. Much low-lying land, only fit for hay, ia broketi up each year, often in a very indifferent manner, and seeded to flax. Such fields quickly become a mat of sow thistles and other noxious weeds. Of late years, the scarcity of farm help, high wages and inferior l«»bour have prevented farmers from giving their land the cultivation necessary to keep down weeds. The demand for increased production since the war started h.n led to the cropping of fields that ehould have been summer-fallovsed. Land in the western part of Manitoba is rapidly losing its vegetable fibre, and can not be culti- vated thoroughly without leaving the soil in a condition fer drifting, hence weeds thrive. The remedy for this is, of course, more (itbss land. Our roads are widt', and, unless the imtravelled portions are broken up and seeded to grass, they soon l)ecome weedy and are a menace to adjoining farms. Reeves and coimcillors of certain municipalities are very indifferent regarding the enforcement of the Noxious Weeiia Act, and frequently change their weeds inspectors every year or two and pay low salaries. For instance, about one-third of the weed inspectors in Manitoba this year are new men. And last, but not least, the average Canadian farmer resents any interference in the management of his land, and is often not willing to take suggestions from others. While an efficient Weeds Act, wisely enforced, is necessary, there must also be hearty co-operation between mivnicipal councils and inspectors and the farmers, real estate owners, trust and mortgage . oinpanies, the different railways and botli the Federal and Provincial Oovcrii- iiifnts and their officials. Control of weeds is larpply a matter of cdui-ation. Unless farmers Icurn to distinguish the different varieties of weeds, and an; acquainted with the most R|H>roved methods fur their eradication, there can \>o. very little pri>gress made in Control Wssds of TH« WJIBO UmtiAOm AND 1TB CONTROt. M d«riii» th« ibck pvriod of tb* ymt. UuomIi the mLTfcl. »S!!I^* ''^•"'**y inqwetm aiMraeed for a munbw of jttn a^ • fair aalafy. '"'•^•«>» w«• •he local municipS w^'r.^Slr'i.L'^ "^^ *"';*^!'« ."""ni^I-lity vi.ited, by ^ve« the comr«Sr:Ttpor?u XTt^Ci: wJ '^l'"^''' municljai iiii' "^ ^'"""^''' ""'* ^»''''>- *»"'"' *" -«t -nd ad.i- 2^ Weed inapaetian Raquiraa •uparvlalan