DECEMBER 26. 1951. I WAGE NINE" illifperimental Fault Covered, Wide field Tlibjir The following summary of major .-ctlvities at the Dominion Experi- mental station. Chmlottetowu, for me year 1951 has been supplied by tL.ipCl'iIll.EIldEnt R. C. Parent: l General Improvements A very important improvement in the Experimental Station prop- prty during the year 1951 was the loving of an additional half mile or road. This. together with tho i.:.!f mile paved in 1950. provides cod roads to all the main farm ..idings, including the pig testing station. and enables visitors to take 3. scenic drive through the station ,1-ounds and around the lily pond ' In addition. the erection of gate ;i.-:s at both cntranccs added! ch to the attractiveness of the :.-- Col. E. W. Johnstone who hast mviircd this tfvpe of work at his, .xi':'. beautiful farmstead at Long; 'rl"ll new buildiu';s were con-! tell or cmnnleted during the! The round hen house was iniotrd and automatic feeders xvi tl'fli0l'Cl'S installed. thus pro- . mm. It urarzticnl lesson in fccdinsv ..;' ,Fllf"'. At. the Upton Farm . rcv: rl'.vcll'nL' house was built. a scale hmise was also con- icd for the purpose of weigh- steers in pasture experiments. ; -nut was also placed over the f-Ming trouchs in the non barn on" a new machine shed built. '1 he Station bovdht an addition- al block nf land from .I.A. Moore jim-nt Edward Road, which will lo used as a building area. This y-izrs the total area of the Station :'..i acres. iii-hi Days, Meetings, and Visitors The Experimental Station ' was iinrt to a number of prominent vis- gmrs in 1951. the most important. ors bcizw Her Roval Highness 1-..nccss 1'-l'lzabeth and His Rova! ilmhnr-ss Prince Philip. who visit- ni this Station on November 9th Elf the purpose of planting an Oak trne. seeing the Station livestock rurl poultry and having afternoon tea. The Royal visitors showed iron interest in the research work :' the Station and in farm work in general. During the summer of lfisl. two rwups of agricultural officials from I-mi-a. Pakistan and Kashmir vis- ied the Station and reviewed me- i':i'uls of studying aariculturainrob- i.”nl3 in Prince Edward Island. These men visited the Province i".l.'lPl' the Colombo Plan of aid to Mrkward countries in" the Far East. 'They were all highly trained rfiicials and were able to offer may very valuable suggestions to micultural officials and farmers in Prince Edward Island. as well as rather data for use in their own countries. Practically all divisional chiefs or their assistants visited this Station some time during the year. In ad- riftlon to this. we had visits from Superintendent Green of the can- still Experimental Station. New- foundland: W. A. Ross, Head. Fruit .t- Insect Division. Science Service. Dr. D. Akenhead. director of the Commonwealth Bureau of Horti- ziitural and Plantation Crops. rncland and many others. Mr. 5. R. N. lfodizins and Mr. F. F. Tyrell from the Information ::-rrice. Ottawa. spent two days at the Station photographing various rrniccts. Members of the Experimental Station staff attended a mimber of conventions and conferences and rave lectures and papers. A series at seminars was presented by incmbersgof the staff. This series if seminars was primarily for the tour-fit of the station staff. Some of the organizations hold- hir: meetings or field days at the oerimental Station were as fol- ic Prince Edward Island Ayr- si-..rc Ereedcrsl Club. Junior Farm- r's' Leadershln Course. Charlotte- 'ov 1-. Rotary Club. Maritime Straw- v Growcvsf Association. and ilr ..try f7'ubs from Kingshoro and icrnon Rivcr. in order to cope with the areal !".'l'E'1Se in visitors and to guard 1 Station property against petty rvcry and vandalism an ar- nmnnt. was entered into with R.C.M.P. and tho Superintend- of Cornmisrinnaires for the .oymcnt of three Commission- . These veterans are on twen- ' four hour duty and are rcndcr- 1'". a valuable service. Weather 195i The monthly mean trmpcraturre 1..:' the winter months of 1951 was mil above the average and the v.uil.cr was one of the mlldest in ii'f'Flli. years. There were no pro- I-'.liljIf.'d spells of cold days and the ovsest temperatures were recorded in January 31 and February lat alien the thermometer dropped to it and 5 below. Above normal precipitation and Lznperstures were recorded during the spring months. Rainfall dur- in: the summer was above the 42 liar average. Temperatures were -'V"I':uze but the absence of a suc- (cssion of not: warm days put the summer season in the cool class. The hours of bright sunshine ".'rrc about 250 hours less than normal with the month of August iiown to 128.4 hours from the av- fmire of 227.3. and November 44.!) hours from the average of 76.9. Normal weather conditions pre- inaled throughout the fall months. Agronomy frhough snow cover during the iimter of 1950-51 was light and often cntircly absent. owing to liliiuent thaws, clover and alfalfa luntered well. The growing season was charac- ill-7-ed by aibundantr rainfall. so '-Vtil distributed that there was no midsummer dry period. As I re- 3i'"v- Duturee on- many forms were abnormally well rn intalncd and glilins crops were not required. "line to prolonged ehowery weath- "- I sood deal of the hay crop nnrty. These posts were builtil itr.-nding the pasture season and in- Mr. R.C.'I'arent. Director of the Experimental Farm here. who dur- ing the past year has entertained a wide assortment of visitors from all parts of the world. Among them 1- ere numbered llcr Highness Prin- cess Elizabeth and her Consort. Frincc Philip, the Duke of Edin- burgh. has harvested in poor condition and in some districts a consider- able quantity was not harvested at all. The out crop was above the av- crage. but lower than that produc- ed in 1950. and showed more vari- ciion as between districts. Potatoes made good growth dur- ing the fi1'st half of the season; but many acres were killed early by blight. The total yield in the Province was approximately 20 bushels per acre less than in 1950. The loss from rot was much less than was anticipated. The yield of corn for silage was about average. Swede turnips gave a yield that was above average but owing to cxicnsive damage from root-mag- cots a large percentage of the crop was unfit for export as table stock. Among the older scedings of al- falfa varieties, at the Experiment- al Station. Rhizoma is showing the greatest. longevity. In point of an- nual yield. it compares favorably with Grimm and Ontario Varie- gated. However, it has shown little spreading by rhizomes before the plants were two years old. The roadside turf plots seeded last year made excellent growth during the past season. All mix- tures of grasses and clovers gave good surface protection. Time alone will determine which of the twenty mixtures in the test will be the most persistent. Upton Farm Project A project was begun during the yeax at the Upton Farm on simple mixtures of grasses and legumes for pasture. It has been found that where grasses have been grown in a mixture there is a tendency for the more vigorous grasses to crowd out the others. It was, therefore considered desirable to investigate the possibility of growing pure species of crosses with a leaume. These species of grasses will be rotatlonaliy grazed as they come into production as a means of ex- creasing pasture production. Four species were seeded with ladino clo- ver (grain as a nurse crop). These included Orchard Grass, Brome Grass Timothy. and Meadow Fes- cuc. Orchard Grass looked very promising this fall. closely follow- ed by Meadow Fescue and Brome Grass. Timothy, which is natur- ally slow in becoming established during the first year, did not show up as good as the other three spe- C185. f The sloping land at Beach Grove was laid out, in the fall of 1950. on the contour. The first of these con- tour strips to be broken up pro- duced an excellent crop of grain this nast year. A rotation of crops will be followed on these contour strips with much of the rotation being devoted to grasses for hay and grass silage. Beach Grove Project Two soil fertility projects were under study at Beach Grove dur- ing the past year. For one of these projects, "Sources of Organic Mat- ter for Potatoes in Rotation". it was the first year to be conducted and although one year's results are of little value it is interesting to note that all treatments except aidcrmud (No. 9) and aldermud and manure (No. 10) were superior to'the check. On the other hand. aldermud (No. 9) was poorer than the check. The treatments under study were (tons per acre): 1. Check (No organic matter ap- plied). . 20 tons of cow manure. straw as bedding. . 20 tons of cow manure. straw as bedding plus stable phos. . 20 tons of cow manure. shav- ings as bedding. 20 tons of compost. . 20 tom of cow manure -l- woody peat in gutter. . 20 COIISVDI cow manure. straw as bedding plus 2 tons of straw. 20 tons cow manure from the loose pen barn. . 70 tons of Aldermud. 10 tons of Aidcrmud plus 10 tons of cow manure. . 20 tons of seaweed (Irish Mose. Kelp, Rockwecd. etc.) ' Cobbler potatoes were grown and the average yields in summary forms are as follows: Oiicck-164 bus. per acre. No. 9--122 bus. per acre. All other treatments-221 bus per acre mos. 1. 9. 6: lo omitted). The other proj.eot”'Rates of ap- plying Manure and Commercial CQIO toes" in being conducted in a three year rotation. and also in a block where potatoes are being grown .fert1lizer formulae used. on each Fertiliser Combinations for Pota- . have to be carried on for several years before any conclusive results can be obtained. Solis Fertilizer experiments were con- tinued in 1951 to determine the relative merits of different fertil- izer formulae for potatoes and grain grown on the three major soil types in the Province. These experiments were conducted in co- operation with farmers located on the different soils, and in "the green-house at the Experimental Station. Substantial increases in yield were obtained. with all the soil type. While there was a dif- ference in the magnitude of re- sponse to fertilizer applications in relation to soil type. no single for- muia was outstanding. Over eight hundred soil samples. from experimental plots. were col- lccted for laboratory studies. Over three hundred samples were re- ceived from farmers throughoutthe Province. These were analyzed and farmers were advised regarding the best fertilizer treatment. Illustration Station Activltiesb Experiments of a fact-finding nature involving 8111 experimental plots, and comprising upwards of 190 acres, were under study on seven Illustration Stations repre- sentative of various soil types in the Province. These Iield experi- iiieiits are so designed that infor- mation acquired may supplement research work now couclucted by the Experimental Farm Service and, in turn, benefit the individual farmer. '1'hc improvement of permanent pastures by the use of chemical fertilizers has been an active pro- joct on Illustration Stations in Prince Edward Island for a num- bcr of years. Experiments conduct- cd during the past year at seven Stations indicates the beneficial effect of a complete fertilizer ap- plied annually. Pasture plots treat- ed with 600 pounds of Superphos- phatc plus 100 pounds Muriate of Potash every three years with a supplementary treatment of ill pounds Ammonium Nitrate annu- ally have also given substantial in- creases in yields ovcr unfertilized plots. Benefits derived from surface applications of well rotted manure cannot be overemphasized. Experi- ments have shown that top dress- ings of manure even in small quantities have not only encourag- ed the establishment of Wild White Clover but have served to prolong the grazing period carrying the pasture through prolonged dry por- iods. Rotational Pastures Hand in hand with manurial treatments and the application of commercial fertilizers is the man- agement of permanent or rotation- al pastures. Close grazing has been found very essential for the estab- lishment and production of Wild White Clover. During the. past year. periodical mowing of pastures has been practised at the Monti- cello. New London, Olf..eary. Rose Valley. and Urbainvllle Stations. These farm owners have found this practice very beneficial from tlie standpoint of. keeping the pas- tare grasses and clovers growing vigorously as well as discournginc the development and spread of noxious weeds. Experience has proved that where pastures are under-grazed and where grasses are allowed to siibot into head. production of herbage is somewhat reduced and the resultant mature forage is not relished by livestock Periodical mowing of pastures which have developed a rank crowth also facilitates the estab- lishment and production of Wild White Clover so highly relished by cattle. Five Illustration Station Field Days held during the year at- tracted a total attendance of 1,053 farmers. Record attendances were registered at the Rose Vtaiiey, Monticello, and New London Sta- tions with 250. 300. and 400 farm- ers present respectively. A special frature at these Field Days was an address on "Grassland Farming. and the Methods Adopted in En- siling Grasses and Clovcrs" by JE. shuh. Nova Scotia Agricultural College. Mr. Robert Woodsidc. Illustra- tion Station operator. O'I..eary. and Mr T. Albert. Hickcn. Illustration Station operator. Alliston. ensilcd All work and no play makes Jack a. dull boy, so the members of the staff of the Experimental Farm take time off to enjoy an outing at the North Shore. The picture was taken during the past summer Ladino Glover. and Blrdsfoot Trc-' foil. These varieties have beer. seeded in hssociation with varying rates of Timothy, Red Clover, A1- faifa, and Alsike Clover. It is intererting to note thati Brome Grass has shown consider-I able promise at. a”numbcr of Sta-ll tions but some difficulty has been! experienced in obtaining a goodl catch due to the fact that tiiisi particular variety must be seeded comparatively shallow, i On the farm of John L. Clark. Rustico. an excellent stand of. Bronte has been secured which hasi persisted during the.past three) years, providing an abundant sup , ply of excellent quality hav follow . cd by a lush growth of aftermath. I On low-lying land.-Reed Canary" O-.-ass has shown up exceptionally well but in order to obtain the best quality hay. this species must be out early. otherwise. the stems be- come comparatively coarse. At the New London Station. an excellent aftermath of Reed Canary Grass was afforded for fall pastures. Durihg the past year, excellent stands of Ladiuo and Birdsfoot Trefoil had hecn obtaincd at ail', Stations when seeded along wlthi the regular grass and clover seed. mixtures. These two legumes which have proved to be rather useful in pasture and grass seed mixtures in some sections of Canada and the United States are presently beinz studied for winter hardiness and productivity under our soil and climatic conditions. Ccrcal Grain Tests During the past year, the tcstin-.: of cereal grains was continued at the O'Le:u-y, Urliainvillc, Rose Va!- ley. and Monticello Stations. In co- operation with the cereal Division, E-Vperimenml 5'-RUDD. Charlotte-'1: is anticipated that a lii11li0d' town. twelve varieties of cats. eight varieties of wheat. and 6 varieties of barley were tested. Farmers at- tending the Annual Field Days were afforded an opportunity to view the various varieties growing in the field and discuss the re- spective merits of each, In co-operation with the Division of l-lcrticulturc. Experimental St tion. Charlottetown. a new experi-; mental orchard. comprising an ax-ex. of 1-1'. acres. was established at the Aillston Illustration Station in 1051. The object of this experi- ment is to learn if various varic- tics of apples can be succcssfullyi produced on the light sandy soils of this section of the Province by the use of various types of surface mulches. These mulchcs include black muck, straivy manure, saw- dust, potato tops. litter. etc. A 9-I D-7 fertilizer formula is beinrt util-. ized in connection with this ex- periment. During the past year. 110 young seedlings made very satis- factory growtii. Special invcsiiguiionui studios. comprising 27 feriiiizcr formulae. were established for the fourth consecutive year at the New Lon- don Staiion. All plots were cs- trrasses and ciovers for the first time this year utilizing the up- r;gi1t. and trcnch type of silos rc- soectivelv. At. the present time.i this high nuolity cnsilacc is being utzllzed in tho feeding of dairy cat-I tie with excellent results. Soil I-Zxjg-.rimenfs In view of the increased interest! among farmers in a grassland, f'-.rming progr:un. the Division of' Illustration gstations. sensing the, need of new and improved strainsl of grasses and clovers, established seven field experiments on soils of different types-in 1948. A study isi being made of the behaviour of Bromc Grass. Meadow Fescue. need Canary Grass. Orchard Grass. year after year. This is necessar- tly a long term project ' and will autumn on their visit to Canada to Pictured above are members of the agricultural mission fromjrulla and Pakistan who were here last tablishcd in duplicutc with and without manure. Studios are be- ing pursucii on n four-your crop roiniion basis fcuiuriug poiuincs, grain S(.'D(lC(i, clover, and timothy. Trends, to date, indicate the bcncficinl cffcct of barnyard man- : members took their sea breezes. - .T.Texce-1iZ..T.-'.- l. . lure a bit too short in the straw ilo merit a recommendation but as the1 sclclctionyvvorrkntvith utility laying stock. Replacing the work l'0rin6ll1.V undertaken with Barred Rocks. two new projects. mcntionod last year. are now being conducted. namely, "The feasibility of select- ion, basod on the progeny test. as a method for inc-rousing the producing ability of fowl" and "The improvement of the Broad Breasted white breed of fowl for meat production". The first. of these makes use of scvcrul strains of White Lcghorns, the latter. a new breed of fowl (iCVOl0p('(l at the Control Experimental Farm. Ottawa, and noted for its excel- lent moat type carcass. It was ncccssnry to provide new laying house accommodation the more than one thousand Log- horns in the first project. A new circular laying house. 72 feel. in diameter was construct:-d. the work being completed in time for pull:-ts starting to lay in August. This house is fitted with auto-l mntic wulcrcrs, automatic fcetlcr, and steep trap ncsis. Vcniiiation is by means of slots at. the cave lino, and tiicrniosliiticiiiiy con- trolled cxlinust fans. The Broad Brvaslcd whilc birds are housed in the siantiarti type 25 x 100 foot laying house form- ierly used for the Barred Rocks. (lcrcals The out crop continues to oc- cupy the leading place in ccrcal tests at the Station. A standard tcst of twelve varielics was grown in rcplicntcti plots at town and at four Illustration Sta- itions. In ihcsc icsis. tho rcgistcr- ed strain of Abcgwcit outyiciricd all others and every effort is be-. ing mode to build up :1 supply of this sccci as quickly as possible. .quantiiy will bv available to farmers for the 1953 socding. i Erbnn oats continues to stand Iup well in yield lcsis and shows consistent lodging rcsisianco. Boa- 'vcr and Ajax are also useful var- ictics but their yicitis nrc sonic- 'whnl. lowcr than Abcgwcit or Er- ban. Victory. it into vurir-iy with no disease rcsistuncr continues to yield well under favorable con- (litibns but it docs not nppcar to be any better than the ncwcr rust resistant sorts and there is always the risk of a rust epidemic. Many hybrid strains of oats were under tcst this season in- cluding scvcrai huiiess st-icctions. Discasc resistance and lodging rc- sistance combined with high yield and quality are the objectives aimed at in the out brcc-(ling pro- gram. A new project was initiated this year to determine the cffcct of stage of maturity at harvest time on the quality and yield of oats. No conclusions can be drawn from a single year's work but it is anticipated that lhicrcsiing'und valuable data will he obtained from this project. Barley Va ricty Ti-st.-i Burlcy variety tests at tho Sla- tion ivcrc seriously (iill1IilfI('(l h.v barley joint worm. and yield rc- suits are not of much value. Un- fortunately. Charlottetown No. 80 sccms particularly susceptible to ure particularly its residual cffcct on the clover and timothy crop. flint a breeding program will be) The necessity of utilizing n bal- anced fcriiiizcr with a rolativcly high nitrogen content. in tho) vicinily of (Wr. is further indicat-. cd. ivnrictics were grown iii two joint worm injury. ii is likely undcrtakcn in the near future to. develop vnriciics resistant to. joint worm injury. llcpiicalcd tcsis of six huricv Ii-I lustration Stations and those gnvo Poultry posed of the flock of Barred Ply-I mouth Rock hens utilized for rnanyishowing from a yield standpoint. d,Cnrlberg. in particular. produced years as a basis of breeding nn .x. make I study of u very ,varlctics developed During the your, the Station dis- avian countries were included in Three Scandin- results. in satisfactory these tests and put up if good for! Charlotte-i they may prove useful as parent imaterial. I Wheat. variety lcsis again indi- lcatetl the high yielding ability of Cascade. This whcat has been ,weil rcccivit-d in the Province but difficulty is often experienced in Isuving the crop under adverse conditions. Cascade gorminatsc lvcry readily in the stock and pmust be watched closely at harv- cst time. I. 3 A new variety, Acadia, has been iliccnscd recently and it, too. has 'given good yields for the past isovcrai years. Acadia is a beard- ,o(l wheat, resistant to rust and has a little better milling quality than Cascade. I Regent, a high quality milling 'wheat Yvilh good rust resistance. ,continues to be popular. The yield is somewhat lower than ithat of either Cascade or Acadia. A fairly cxicnsive rod row test iwas conducted this your to coni- pnrc Ihc ci'fc('.t of rcgular com- mcrcial fci'tiii,zor, liquid feriiiizcr. land micro fcriilizcr on the yield of Abcgwc-it outs. (300 lbs. per ,acre of 3-15-6 fcriiiizcr uppiicd broadcast gave an average increase 'of 17.5 bushels per acre over the 'check receiving no treatment. No increase over the check was re- corded on the plots treated with .iiquid fertilizer or with the micro :fert'ilizcr. Horticulture, Fiowcrs-As in 1950. the dahiia ,(iispiay at this Station was very ioutstanding. Somo eighty new dahlias were added to our col- ilection in the spring of 1951, and tmany of these proved to be of exceptional size and quality. While it is always difficult to select outstanding variciios. we would :1-onsidor the following twenty to the excellent for garden decoration. iThDSO are all large-flowering typos: Grantl Masterpiece, chrome yellow with lilac reflex; Elitc. lGlory. deep vcivoiy maroon: Mon- inrch of the East. gold with apri- cot and orange suffusion: Setting Star. gold and salmon: Frlcila Gaylord. rose-pink; l'rcmIcr's W'ln- some, light delicate pink; I.lghcn- ing. scarlet vcrmiiion; (lnrollna illlaid, decp rose, salmon suffusion; Jamboree, soft mallow pink; Dix- ic'a Wincdot, rod and white; Wo- snl. deep salmon; Lady Moyra Ponsonby, yellow; Model 999, fiery- rcd with gold ccntrc; Alice My, pure white; tvimlcrmcrc. golden yellow; Ogden Reid, ash cs of roses; IbDay. rose pink: Pink Elephant. pink; Block Monarch, almost black; Croyilon Radiance, rose-purple. Vegetables - Potatoes -- The re- lease of the two new blight rc- sisiant potato varieties. Canso and Kcswick. originated at the Fred- lcricton Experimental Station and ,grown for increase in ihis Prov- incc in 1950. proved to be of great interest to growers. Those variet- ics have shown themselves to be quite resistant to late blight nnd thcir performance the next few years will he watched with inter- est. Othcr seedlings, oquuliy or icvcn more resistant to blight, are inow under test at this Siution and it is hoped flint one or more of those will be of sufficient quality Ito merit their introduction. Scab nnd virus resistant variet- iics of some promise are also un- clcr test. in addition to seedlings. Station has now some 80 named varieties under test and these include many of the newer Un- itcd States ' introductions. The Old Mclntyro The old Mclntyro is also having its face lifted and a more uniform strain in shape and color is being selected. Cucumbers - Since more than six hundred acrcs- of pickling cu- cumbcrs are being grown in this Province, considerable time is ric- voied to this crop. Perhaps the highlight of the 1951 season was the discovery of a spot or scab resistant pickier which is likely to step up the yield of cucumbers to a remarkable extent. This variety was bred by American rc- scarch workers and is cnllcd Mninc No. '2. Tho total ylcld per acre of Muiuc No. 2 in I951 was ap- proximuiciy G 1-2 tons of all grades us compurcd to Chicago Piicklc. the standard variety. of some 3 tons. The difference in yield was largely a matter of spot. rcsisfnnco. Fmlts - Trco l-lruiis. Expor- ioicntni orcliurrls urn maintained on the following forms: T. Albcrl. ilickcn's. Alliston; Willinm Boers". Belle River: Willard MacKay's, Vernon Bridge: and Ivan Daw- son's. Central Bcdequc. All of those orchard: are now coming into bearing. About onc-third of agricultural method I (hi i. . With lb i . Kw"! "H"... of :mllE'p!"l;:I.I'Ii, nun merm are.cach orchard is double-vvorkcd. or in the process of being worked m'i'F. on a test for hardiness. Dou- Tlicsuc viiriclics bile-ivorkctl trees the, wives and youngsters along to get the benefit of the consist of a iizirdy root on which is grafted a h:ir(l,v variety such as Hibernai. As those trees begin to size, they are top-worked to the variety de- sired. thus the trees have hardy roots and trunks while the fruit is produced on stock of a more tender variety such as Red Delic- ious or McIntosh Red. Small Fruits - Strawberries - Over a three year period, Senator Dunlap and Premier are tied for first place in total yield, and these are closely followed by such promising new varieties as King. Catskill, Culver, Dresden, and Louise. Raspberries - Trent has proven to be the most prolific variety and has other good qualities which makes it very suitable for planting in this Province. Livestock At the present time. the Ayr- shire herd at the Station num- bcrs 52 head of which 21 are milk cows. 23 young cattle and calves. and 5 herd sires. All young cat- tle are housed in the pcn barn at Upton. They are maintained very cheaply on hay and grass silage -with a very small amount of grain fed on the silage. All the heifers housed there last win- for were growthy and in fine fit in the spring indicating this is a very suitable way of growing dairy heifers. This winter, the barn and yard have been divided with very young heifers in one half and the older ones in the other half. Some cows will be taken over from the dairy herd as they go dry and maintained there during.thcir dry period. This should reduce the cost of maintaining the dry dairy C0lV. The herd passed e. clean test for Tuberculosis and Bangs on Novcmbei; 23. This herd has now been a Bangs. disease free listed herd since 1938 and accredited since 1922. Twenty milk cows were classified on August 13. 1951. three individuals were classified as vcry good. eight good plus. six good. three fair. with no animal in the poor classification. The herd average was 80.2557: of the points on the score card and is an increase ovcr the initial class- ification of 1950 when the aver- age score on seventeen hcad was T8.38'7p. Thc progeny icsting of Ayrshire bulls by means of artificial insem- ination was carried on again this year with ovcr 165 cows receiv- ing at least one insemination. This compares with 95 cows in- scminated in 1950. Three bulls were used almost exclusively namely: Evana Sir Roderick, our senior herd sire which was dis- posed of this fall; Fairvuc Sov- ereign, :1 young bull on loan from A. Macllac & Sons; and Burton Duollist. the older of the two bulls rcccnily imported from Scotland. The idea behind the projcct is to obtain daughters of ihcsc different bulls from the same cows. then comparing the R. 0. P. records of the different groups of daughters with cuch other and with the (film's records and arrive at an estimate of the transmitting ability of the bull. 0 Dairy Jtaflon Test Al the present time. a group of 12 cows are on test compar- ing potatoes and turnips as a part of the dairy cow ration. DRIED FRUITS ARI GOOIDT We Canadians find it diffieull to understand how flruit eating birds are able to spend the cold months with us, and survive. Yet. when fresh fruit is not available, we ourselves are often very glad to use dried prunes, apples, or ap- ricots as substitutes. And so we should not be surprised to learn that certain species are wise en- ough to do the same thing. Our parks and cemeteries are likely places for us to find fruit. eaters in winter, because there have been planted mountain ash. hawthorn. snowberry, bittersweet, and various other trees and bushes for decorative purpows. But it. is the fruit which has been left hanging from the branches that is so attractive to several kinds of birds. Here the occasional Robin is seen in snowy surroundings and zero temperature, feasting on the dogwood berries. Supplied with wild fruits and berries, even a I-Iermit Thrush has been known to forget. that migration time is long past, and its relations are miles. away. The Gray-checked will hardly spend the winter in can- ada, but may postpone departure from early October to late Novem- ber. Quite rightly. we iihink of Pur- ple Flnches as seed eaters. They are. But no seed delights them more than mountain ash berries. Whole flocks of these birds winter in a vacinity where an abundance of waste left-over fruit can be had. but it is the mountain ash trees that receive most. attention, Those gypsies. the Evening Gros- beaks. prefer the seeds of Mani- toba mapies to anything else, yet they also are fond of dried, win- ter fruit, and have one rather odd habit: that of ,tai:ing the seeds out of old, rotten apples that they find hanging from branches in mid- winter. Their first cousins. the Continued on page 1-3 They are being fed hey at the rate of 1 3-4 lbs. per 100 lbs. live weight. meal at 1 lb. per 3 U4 lbs. of 4173 milk produced: turn- ipe at 4 lbs. and potatoes at 1 3M lbs. per 100 lbs. live weight. The rate of feeding is calculated to make both rations equal in total digestible nutrients. This is the third year this project has been under study. The results so for show there is very little difference between the two rations, and in- dicates that potatoes make I suitable substitute for turnips. A ten year project comparing two grass mixtures for pasture was begun at Upton during the past summer., One is the com- mon mixture grown for hay on Prince Edward Island and con- tains timothy, red clover, alsike. and alfalfa; the other mixture contains timothy. brome. orchard grass. reed canary grass, ref! clover, alfalfa, ladino. and alsike. Both mixtures were seeded It approximately the same rate, each on two 3 N2 acre plots. A fifth plot of old sod will serve as u. check. Yields are taken by meas- uring gains in weight and value of steers on these plots and also by calculating, from pasture cage Clippings. the Weight of grass pro- duced. I Despite the increased mechan- ization of the Station, we still um! many uses for the five Clydes- dale horses which are kept. No breeding program is being car. ried on and replacements are ob- tained from the Experimental Farm at Nappan when needed. Apiary The production of honey in Prince Edward Island reached it new high in 1951 when 72,000 lbs. were produced. , Beekeepers in Prince Edward Island consider it more profitable to import package boos each year rather than overiwntcr them as is commonly done in other prov- inces. For this reason. the main project at the Experimental Sta- tion has to do with a study of different size packages and the time of arrival of these packages. Over a three year period. this experiment has indicated that 2 lb. .packagcs of bees. imported during the last week of April or the first week of May, will give higher yields than 2 or 3 lb. packages imported later. and will prove as profitable as 3 lb. pack- ages imported at the same date. shown above, is the "Canoe". I cl. pg. gong; nu blight resistant potatoes IIII.HHIIcO:.I.lC.o thb. Province In rglitt you: The Clnsm rrown especially last year at the Experimental Farm has proven to be one of the better new types of potatoes lien and jmuu'u.. are that it may offer a fugrggter resistance to potato blight than other varieties now being grown.