Saturday. Dec. 22. 1956

The Guardian. Page 11

Thousands Visit Experimental Farm During 1956

Varied Program

Experimental "Farm Year

The following report preparedby sters. Dr 12.5. Archibald, format All". R.C. Parent. Superintendent 'dlrector of the Experimental mg; the Staff of the Charlottetown Farms Service, was honoured when l-Ixperirnenlll Farm shows somq lie was asked to plant a tree on or the major activities carried on the beautiful grounds of the Farm.

mliiiisg F arm atiPU3uCA'"0N,5 , Charlottetown. was established int ill, Furoperatio-ii with the other loop and for 47 years.. has boenplllarilime Igxperiniental Farms. a an important factor in helpingpbrilletin lllxperimental, Farm ;llll'9 production problems of the filghllghls In the Allanlltl Proli- ralladian farmer. While probicmsgnces . was published qprins the mating with pnnce Edward Is., year and distributed at l-ield Days land Agriculture are of first lm-lto farm groups. and interested in i.iil'l&lnCC. a number of projects ofldivltluals. Similar bulletins have it country-wide. nature are dealflbeen published annually since will and many results front our 1953. I research studies have been wide- They present brief summaries it applied. of the results of current investig-

l'lit- following review is lnteiided ations being carried on by the to give a picture of the mn.lor:Canat1a Experimental Farms in activities for the year lust endinz the Atlantic Provinces. Copies are Fl-WT NOTES i.vAa"E!l')(iETl;l;Sr:gl:)f)i"i. giving more

("Heme BMW”. has bealcomplete details of the Farm's granted leave of absence to put-lacuvmes Wm be published in 1953 i”” h" mm” mward '1" Ph' D land will give the results of investi- ””'”'e in so" Chemmry 'i Mac” ations for the years 1953-1957 in- Donald College. He expects tolglusive "'”"." in duty " "" Lxpuimukl Members of the staff assisted ”' farm lp "rly summon 'n the re aration of two bulletins

James Nicholson has returned” mledp Protection Guide for lluul Cornell University where bel:," 1 '51 d Sm." Fm-mu and f?('ClV9d his degree of M.Sc. inj..gi: 81 9? weed Comm, Guide.- Animal Nutrition. and has com-I hi kin” bl. had b the P", pitted part of his requirementalw C were p" ” 5'

fill his Doctor's degree. Mr. Nieh-irliifial Dep”""e'" M Agricul oi--in expects to resume his poati The bulletins. uomamenm

graduate studies in a year or two. -

Roy Boswell joined the Farm "'9?,5- ,, . Mm H Technician In the son ers .and The Production of Tree

Ilahontory. on June mhg and An, Fruits in' Prince Edward Island"

rirrw Humphrey Joined the staff of 1 We” "3Vl59d by M” are w"”'e"t H". 5,," L,b0,.,m,y ,3 an em, Horticulturist at the Farm.” pioyea of the Provincial Depai1- Augie,-:'"lc5fl gap.” enlgiggna i gas I y o arlous a of Agnculiure' on October Steers as Influenced by the Length The testing of soils for farmeraid .grem:in3rv3,', lslzfflzdnd is a joint project of the Experl- W" ei' Y t A. ' 0 Associates. at Cornell. was pub-

mcntal Farms Service and the . . . . ,- . llshed in the Journal of Animal Pimlnclll Department of Agricul tsciencev vol. 15 , 1956' Mr. NM”!-

. Th i t t f th I A . . meemigwgdn Tbgaeomakees wglsons Masters Thesis. prepared

, .- - ;for Cornell University. is entitled. :f,f,”,',fe': 3? ,',','f."d,'fm,',;'eSf"”'e"”d,--laistlllerc Dried Molasses Sol-

RB, Mach,” W” pmmomdlubles as a Source of Unidentified

mm Techmml om”, to Remuchllfactors in Ruminant Nutrition".

"file" ? CONSTRUCTION H511-935 The most iruporttmt develop Agricultural Research Officers "lc" '" ""5 field "35 "W 90'”

ftnm Canada and Foreign Centres. 5”" mt" 0' ' i5 I9" addm””- '5

farmers and city people alike. find , . lisit to the Experimental rat-in dalry horn. In the first addition. profitable as well as enjoyable. 30 lndividualcalf pens will be con-

During the yen 1955, more um; lstructed and these will be used for who visitor. cgme to the Exper. ispeclal calf feeding experiments. mental Farm. Some of the morelln the ell. provision has been prominent individuals included, lmade for the housing of 4 horses the Indonesian Ambassador. Dr. and for 12 bull pens. The latest in ilsman Sastroamidjoyo: the Lieut-lsteel pens and safety equipment .m,,.Governor of the Province: has been incorporated in this set- the Premier of the Province; Dr. up. The complete installation will

ES. Archibald. former Director, be finished early in the nsw yearp

l-Zxpcrimental Farms Service: Dr. Another important new building t'H Goulden. Director. Experi- added during the year was a pre- mental Farms Service; Mr. S.R.lfabricated steel machinery stor- N Hodglns. Director. lnformationlage. This building is 50 feet x 102 service; Mr. Howard Tueman. l feet. and represents a greatly nlrecior, Foreign Agricultural Re-liieeded addition to the Farm prop laliuns; Dr. D.I Kuenen. Zoo-,erty.

logical Laboratory. Leiden. Hol-I A small yard was paved adjoin- Iiud. and I sroup of l-Intomolos-ilnn the loose housing pole barn 'at his from Canada and the United ,ihe Upton Farm. This is is neces- ilales; Dr. Gordon Young. Dlfet-lsity in the loose housing scheme tor. National Research Counciljfor Prince Edward island where laboratory at Halifax: Dr. H.G. l mud can be a nutsanr and ,1 pmb. llion. Dean. MRCDOHIM ASl'lCll1'l.lem, especially in the spring and ulral College Dr. W.H Britlain.imi months,

ftllralor, Morgan Arboretum. Mac-l

THE SEASON

Donald College; Professor G. . ilnlthby. Ontario Agricultural Col- Generally speaking. the weather

Inge: Professor L.C. Hamlllton. for the year 1956 was not quite as liacnonald College: Mr. .l.A favourable as last year for the Thompson. National President, growth of farm crops. Early pos-

tures were luxuriant. but dry weather in July. August and Sept- iember prevented a susttiincd yield. Hay crops were slightly below av- crage, but the quality was good. The yields of grain crops were well above average. and Prince Edward island farmers harvested their iargcsl crop, Potato yields were about average and. dllc to i the dry weather conditions. the cat- lng quality is superior to former years Fuddcr corn crops were vcry poor. This is unusual br- causc. normally. wr can cxpcci satisfactory yields and ripening lln(l('l' Prince Edward island cou- diiions.

With the exception of the months

Agricultural institute n' Canada: Grant Carlyle. President. National Dairy Co. of Canada: Dr. Ora Smith. Cornell University: Dr. .laap. Ohio Agricultural Experi- mcnl Station; Dr. R.l-X Nylund. Department of Horllcullllrc. St. mull. Minn.. and many others.

IIRGANIZED GROUPS

Fifty-eight organized Rrnlly! of Ilrople. most of them agricultural. initcd the Farm during the year. Among these are listed: Federal- i'l-ovincial Agricultural Confer- rncc. Canadian National 5-vine Rrt-eders' Association. National Organization Workmenls Compen- tniion Board. Gideon Collveutlon

thicken Barbecue. P.El. Ayr-l , lmm Breederr Club, Gmup ogiof January and February. the pntamp niulzillly mean temperatures for

Ontario Farmers. P.E.l. Grmvcrs. Women's institutes ofllhe Y9” i956 We” below um 47 Vova Seotia and Prince Edward-VON 8V0r5l19' , lqand. Boy scout Group, for ".0. The lowest daily temperature for iilanting and instruction. Egg Gra- l ll"! 5'9” W35 record” ”” Ja""a'5' rh-rs' Course. Maritime Conven 15! WM" "W m9l'Cl”'Y dmwed l” him or the A.l.C. and lroi-esierolll deizreis below zero- lunjnr rum"; mg 4.41 clubs, No zero temperature: were record- P 'i'.l. Artificial Rrccdersl yssor-,, ed in Febrllary and the lowest dur- P.E.l. Exhibition Association Home in: March has 2 "elm-A he'll" ll” '-" 'r-atlon Society. Federation zero. I or ,'--,i "gm", Th: daily maxlmurn tempera- On the occasion of the Maritime flirt! were 10W” "l 19-W The Mill" Convention of the A.l.C. and Forte cat was 82 degrees on August 18th.

well as a 107 foot ell. to the main

Features

iother high temperatures were Ii degrees on June 15th. ll degrees! ion July 12th and I) degrees on lseptember 6th. 1 Total precipitation for the year was higher than normal for the months of .l y to June. but was much below normal for the remainder of the year. -The hours of sunshine were average during ,the growing season, but were less than normal for the winter, spring 5 and fall months.

ANIMAL HUSBANDRY

More animals are being winter- ed at the Experimental Farm this year than ever before. At the time of writing this report the numberl of 132 of which 12 were ldenticala, twins purchased for special experi-l merits. 12 were young Ayrshirel steers which will be used for re-f search purposes and 36 were Here; ford steers imported from West- ern Canada. The remaining 72 .head compose the purebred Ayr- shire herd and are also used in

commodate this increase in the size of the herd, new facilities , are being provided for horses. bulls and calves. The main dairy barn lhas been remodelled to provide; stalls for 41 milk cows, 12 mor than formerly. .

The carload of Hereford steersl limported were purchased at thej

Shrubs and Woody Climb-lcattlc sale in Walsh,-Alberta. Tbe.correlate these characteristics as

purpose in bringing in these West-, tern sicers wu to obtain enoughl ianimzils of similar age. brecding.l previous management and size to grazc experimental pasture plots next slimmer. The animals came- -dlmu wltli shipping fever en route -and four were lost. Because of lthese losses and the high price of lfeeder cattle this fall, it is doubt- fful if any profit will be realized ion the importation, However. the ,cxpcrimental results obtained lfrom this llnlfurnl lot of sleeps should more than offset any loss."

PRODUCTION RECORDS The average official production, of the herd in 1955. the last ycarl for which complete data are avail-' table. was 9.15:! lb. milk. 414 lb. of butierfat for an average test of 4-53 per cent fat. This is an average .of 111 per cent of the breed class laverage for milk and 122 per cent l for fat. The above average includesl 26 records of which 10 were made! by two year old heifers.j Tile 22 cows which have Lus pletedi lactations in the 1st eleven months of 1956 have an actual average of: i9.0-17 lb. of milk. This slight tie-l cline in production is probably a. reflcclion of the dry weather andi poor pasture conditions on thel during the late summer andi a .

PASTURE EXPERIMENTS Fresh daily grazing of dairy cattle as compared with rotational grazing was of some assistance in maintaining m i l k production, throughout the season. Results of an experiment conducted here for the past two years indicate that the practice of restricting the cows to only enough forage for one day's grazing results in more milk prod- uction and a greater yield of forage per acre. Each rotationally grazed area listed as a comparison to the fresh .daily grazing provided enough for- age in last the groups of cows one to two wccks before it became,- ncccssory to move them to the ncxt arch. Electric fences were used to restrict lhc cows to one day's grazing on the experimen- tal areas. A type of post was de vised which made moving the: fence quite easy and required very; little time. i Cull Potatoes and Grass Silagal Compared -A feeding trial is be- ing ctindllctcd with milking cowl ihis winter in which cilll potatoes, are twin: compared with grass sil- age as a succulent roughage. This same feeding trial is being con- ducted at the Experimental Farm; Fredericton. New Brunswick. andi the results should be of interest to; farmers with quantities of cllll po-1 tatocs to utilize as livestock feed; DAIRY CATTLE BREEDING The Charlottetown Experimen- tal Farm is co-operating with other Experimental Farms across- Canada in what is probably that most extensive and carefully con- trolled research project in dairy cattle breeding ever undertaken anywhere. The purpose of this pro- ject is to gather information on

the inheritance of all factors 'of economic importance in Dairy Cattle.

.-ii

, , , FJXPERIMENTAI. FARM Staff side, Gordon Warren. R C Parcnf, ' right: Dick Stirling, Norman Black I son. Warren Flurus, Bruce Mac- brerdms and feeding Walk To 30- left to right front row: G.B Whito- Frank Tinney. am l”0W left lo, Keith Lehacheur, James Nichol- Laren.

This includes type- conformation BELKIRK .WHEA1' i milking qualities, temperament, Yield trials (at tlw l-2xpt-i'illlen- etc.. as well as milk. fat and solids- lal Farm during the past threel not-fat production. Feed efficiency. V9673 5ll0W "W 5"lli'li'k spring ody measurement- type. etc.. are Wheat is at lcast equal to .-icadia.l cing measured on the animal; the variety ,W ill”-fl mnllllolllyl as wives and also as pmducing grown on Prince laduzlrd lslandm (.,,,,,-5, 1; will then up possible to Considering the sllpfrrltir rust re-1 sistance of Selkirk, llR llclicr mill- lng quality and mi fact that liiorlsh growers pre er a a fl lihcrii. ii

The Ayrshire bulls in be used in Wssibk "mi. this ”''''”-l' M” 79f this project will be stationed at-9'3” Acadm 0'.' '"'”'l' ,"r. "'9 Charlottetown where semen will be what” ""9339 '" H" I''"”''''''- collected. processed and shipped Parkland. A New Burl:-y Variety by Bl? CXPVCSS 1” "W97 l'i3l'"l5t 1' Parkland. a new six-rlillcli bar- is hoped that some local breed-,lley, is receiving considcruiilc pu- crs of purebred Ayrshire cattlesbllcity in Western (.'alizl(la. Its will Wish l0 P0-Operate in lhiryield compares very favourably. project as large numbers of ani- with that of CllFll'ifJl.lPltIll'll No. 301 mals are needed to make progress. but it is Inferior in lodging rcsis-, Breeders who do co-operate will re lance. l-lcrta. a llvn-rtiwl-rl Sivcdishi ceive semen at a small charge for variety, was licensed for sale inscminating the cows and are as--in Canada in llifiti and will he. surcd of the use of a highly sclect- l grown fairly extensively in Wes- ed group of hulls. More informa--tern Canada in 19.37. This i-ril-icty, tlon is available at lhe Experimcnt- l has performed very well in test at Farm. 'plots on Prince Edward lslandl

measured in calves with actual production nf the animals later on.

, stated lliccs in

POLLINATION STIIDIES WITH CIICUMBERS

,auti will ha studied on a larger Tho Apiarist at the llixpcrimcn-, scale this coming sumnlcr.

AflRlClll.TURE

tal Farm, in co-operation with thel Pnrasltcs have doll? a l'N'.l' 63- Provincial Department of Agricul- fr-ctlve lob 0' dc-'"f'0.V"lll ill? bill'- iurc. sllpervlsed the importation Icy lnlnl-Wtlrnlv in H983 Wll'?l3, were severely infested five or six-

and distribution nf L020 lwn-pound packages of bees which were pur- years ago. in many such areas chased by llfl bcc-keepers This growers rcporlcd excellent bar-

represents a lo per cent. increase? le,V "fill-" "ll-1 .VN"'- , i in ,1". number or package bcegl with new grecnhollse fat-llltlcs imp,-,.-gm, .brccdlng program has been tinder- At the Fxperiliiclllal Farm. available. I concentrated cereal three important bee projects were taken. improved lodging resistance taken this year. namely: 1- Sllldltlllimlfl "W19" Y”51dl"3- 9 ' 715' on the value of the antibiotic maturing vnrletips of both oats Fllmidil R. for the control of nose- Mid bail?! Ire DT"l09'5 ll''li"h "9 mg in beds. 2. The testing of hy- receiving particular attention. '""' ””'"t "' ”"""” """"'d FORAGE. rml.ii ulislimxbltv

frtim the Ontario Agricultural Col-, . . d F ,. his Apiny m PM" man”. ti The Field Husbandry an or,

V - ,.:lg:- Divisions at Charlottetown liiii-F ('illaCllllll'eI'Ibrf,til'Siw.;'lIrrlltgougigiliig:i M" Md ' wry hwy "mm" (M!

are required before definite re- y"""' Cr"p"i"R mndmom mi" ' ifaiourable for the most part an commendation: can be maria. mood yields W.” hM,.e5,e,. M

(ll-ZREAI. CROPS "nearly all projects. As usual. xflfllc Although the seeding .of t-crcal-new projects were. begun in'llP.if::, "om W" mu." lug (lug year, a nlhcrs. were carrle Si! in circa long growing season with favour-lmore information. an some we able amounts of moisture and sun- dfsf"nlllIlIefl-

mtm. ggve Island growers one of Soil Fertility a Major Stud!-

lthe best grain crops on record in the Field Husbandry Division i1-mum! was hen-y ".1 lauds the main part. of the work was

we”: we" mic,-t t-nnct-ntratccl on fertility treat- New Varieties Prove Their Worth mt-his For example, one of the Thrcc new mil varieties,.(3arry,lprnjccls is designed to trul fer- Shem"-d and Rodney, drt-w fheltilizer formulae at thrive diffcrcni attention of many farmers and rates per acre A formula. such few who tried them were rlisap- as 9-3-1 if MlPllf'tl '0 POI-'l""'t 7" pointed. (tarry. a m9dium- early 500 lb.. I600 lb. and 2000 lb ll"-, maturing oat. was probably most acrc I favourably received. This variety Another formula. of which there has excellent resistance to rust. are oiilfii llllfl" lNl- It 'N"l '" Musucgo.-y lodging resistance un- ntiaioes at the same rate: per 4,, modu-ptcly high conditions of acre and ('flfl1y8TlVlfIS between all fertility and is consistently good freight are made. To illustrate; the Kield. The early mIllllrlty'and thln- formula 4-fl-fl produced 2I2.9 hus- ulled kernel of Shefford are lis,liel.s of marketable not.-lines per- acre. and the formula 4-I5-if pm-3

mi" mud," duced 223.0 bllshels per acre Since

unfu-tnngjply, If Sbcfford is not uwmed gllgmly before 't ba- all other factors. com" fully ripe. a large numberpiation. rate per at-rc. etc . are um. gf lm-Ml; may be lost throughiform. we can assume that ihc ex .y..u,.-1... A. man been pointed-tra 10.! bushels icld WEN pm- oot on previous occasions. Rodney duced by adding per cent phns

gtefn" (flange of oats. quire a large area of land and gorlauj hrgnkage of these rotted very tuneful in sliggestlng frirnilllac "pm, ".41, .3 a result. this vari- to farmers and fertilin-r manu- ,iy nu . very poor yieldu-econ! facfurers.

mm. in. past few years. The ab- Ample Quantities of Organic Mat- ggnca gf guch stonns during the ter Required for Best Yields. cm-I-at lag season meant An Important test eomparin: or-

in good condition when harvested cm sources was coiifinuwi r-I "N- am yicldg were higher than ex-l-Upton Farm. If It a rt-ro'!ni7Nf pg-lea, it in it late maturing. rusfifarl that a sand pom-niasr or resistant variety with an atirae- organic matter in the mil in rs- five kernel. seed of carry

was ihddplhd at three problem if

Sileffuil llliistratba Dlltioll with the Pro- matter in efficient quantities pro-I. ylgg, ICE

,. . b l tille- la extremely susceptible to Black phoruil. Projects such as this rc- ,.?”',i.i H

crow . that most crops of M11"! "P! I-"'0 miter obtained from vhfh-rand during the year If the Aliistml

iiure is available especially many large farms.

Various sources of organic mat- ter such as alder mud, kelp and seaweed. straw and cnliipusts VH"f'2 tested against a standard rate of manure per acre. Also, manurc using straw as bl-dang, manure using shavings as bedding and manure produced in a pen barn were included in this test.

In the results to date. the vari- ous types of manure are giving hcticr yields than other sources of organic matter. Seaweed has given good results, especially in the hay crops. Manure produced in is pen barn was included as it is stored ilodcr a roof and well- irnmped by the animals during most of the year. This practice should produce excellent quality manure. However, there have been no great differences in yield between this material and manure hauled out daily and piled in the field.

('HlC.Vll(lAl. WEED ('0NTB.0I.

Another increasingly important problem on which the Field Hus- bandry Divislon worked in 1956 is chemical weed control. Much of this work was done in co-operation with the illustration Station Di- vision and spray plots on grain and pasture crops were laid out at several locations. A number of sprays have been applied this fall at the Charlottetown Farm in an attempt to control ox-eye daisy in timothy hay. While it has been that good farming prac-

general should control weeds. chemicals are very useful in this respect and plans for the future include more of this type of work.

on

-Variety Testing of Corn. Alfalfa and Red Clover - The Forage Division conducted

variety tests on corn hybirds. al-'1

falfa and red clover in 1956. The corn test was planted at the usual time in early .lune. but growth was slow and none of the hybrids reached a suitable stage of ma- turity for good silage before frost.

in the alfalfa test, Rhisoma was again the stand-out variety of the

cleven under test. A large test of

seven red clover varieties. in which both seed yield and forage prodllciiml were rccuriicrl. was

- completed this year. We now have

three years of reliable data on this project and figures on the average production will be avail- able shortly to those Interested

mtmva Rt-d. nollartl and a cross of these two varieties named La- salic have given the best forage yit-ids throughout the test. S('Pd yields have been very irregular. however.

PASTFRHS

in pasiilrc low-illigtliinns. a N0- inct was established this spring on the Charlottetown Farm to com- pare two types of grazing by dairy cattle. namely, fresh daily and rrr talional. Milk production records and yields of grass from the pair- tures are being recorded.

This work has been carried on In co-operlfitin with the Animal ilushniidry Division. Also In eo- opcraiinn with the Animal Hus- bandry is in large pasture project

d-st-cried this year This project is; , designed to give the legume Birds-'

foot Trr-foil a fair that under ollr conditions. and in pasture mixture in which Birdsfoot Trefnll is the chief legume is being compared with a mixture having Red Clo- ver and Alfalfa as legumes. The pllsillres produced will be grand for a number of years and gains of grazing animals, as well as

grass production. will be record:-cil

ILLUSTIIATION STATION Hxnerimcnis of a fact-finding r..-llure were conducted on six illus- iraiion Station: in Prince Edward Island and two illustration Sta- firms in the Magdalen island in l956 lllu.-iration Station farms are rn located that they reflrcscnf areas and soil types not covered by the Experimental Farms with uhlcb they are associated. Stations are presently on farms owned and operated T. Albert Hicken. Alllafon: Huifh J MacDonald. Monticello: William

located

""'h '" ""i F., .lohnslrine and son. Inna River;,