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The year 1954 was a ver busy one at the Experimental tatlon. notonlyweresnu.mberofim- portant un.l'ovements made to the buildings and property, but new projects were undertakenjand me- cial emphasis place-i on making the results of experimental findings available to the public The Sum- mary Report for the years 1948-52 is now being distributed and every farmer in the Province will have an opportunity to secure I copy. A bul- letin entitled ”Oi-op Variety Rs- commendationa for the Atlantic Provinces" was Prepared 00-0139"- nvely by the five Experimental Stations serving this region. This publication has been most helpful in assisting farmers, gardeners and fruit growers to select the best varieties for their particular needs.

New construction and improve- ments to buildings at the.Experi- mental Station included the con- struotion of a. new forage crop drier building. made of cement blocks, and la forage crop drying oven. This oven holih ninety- six trays. each tray capable of holding a five hundred gradl sam- ple of green material. These sam- ples may be dried to one or two per cent moisture in from six to -even hours. In this-machine the temperature varies from 210 to 220 degrees Fahrenheit, samples are taken from all forage crop experi- ments and dried so that a mole- lure-free yield may be obtained.

Work is now in progress on a. header house and greenhouse. These two buildings are to be used specifically for breeding work with cereals. The header house is 35'x50' and the greenhouse is 25'x 70' with six compartments

which are 1' ' lly controlled for temperat The greenhouse is being co by the Lord

6; Burnham Company. of st. Catharines. Ontario.

The poultr y administration building was completely remodel- led to include a walk-in cooler and a modern poultry killing plant.

OTHER. ACTIVITIES

Another improvement of note was the filling in of three un- aightly swamps on the Farm pro- perty. Part, of the excavation from the new Federal Building was used here to good advantage. In all approximately 12.000 yards of earth fill were used.

To prevent erosion on the large back slope on the Trans-Canada Highway. adjacent to the Upton Farm. and to improve its appear- ance. the banks were seeded to a grass mixture. The treatment for these slopes was as follows: 1.- 000 lbs. of hydrated lime. and 500 lbs. of a 5-10-10 fertilizer per acre. The fertilizer and lime were rak- ed lightly into the soil and the following seed mixture applied at the rate of 50 lbs, per acre: Ken- tucky Blue Grass-60 per cent. Red Top-25 per cent. Timothy - 10 per cent, Whits Dutch Clover- 5 per cent. The seed was lightly raked into the soil.

No changes were made in the senior staff during the year but one officer. namely. J. W. G .Nich- olson. was granted leave of ab- sence for the rliunpoae of taking postgraduate st dies -at Cornell University.

Farmers and others continue to visit the aocperirnentsil station in ever increasing numbers and con- tinue to use the facilities for vari- ous purposes. During 1954 a total of approximately 9.000 peo- ple visited the Experimental Sta- tion. Of these, some 1,000 were technical men. almost 4.01!) were farmers. 500 school children. and 0.000 urban visitors. Three thous- and. five hundred and forty-six of these people came in sixty- three groups. Among the groups were the following: Federal-Prow incisl Agricultural Conference, Agricultural Institute of Canada. Professional Institute. Egg Grad- era short Course. Ayrshire Breed- ers' Annual Meeting. Acadlan En- tomological Society. P.E.I. Sheep

Breeders'. P.E.I. swine Breedersl Association, Guernsey Breederr Charlottetown Camera Club. and Women's Institutes. j

rm: season-ion

The weather which prevailed during the month of January was of the so-called "old fashioned type" with low temperatures and heavy snowfall: being recorded.

Below zero temperatures were recorded on five days and a new record for monthly precipitation was made when I total of 7.18" of rain and snow were recorded.

The lowest temperature for the month was 7 degrees below on January .'i0th. -

The weather in February was more moderate with three days of zero temperature. The mean tem- pt-ratura for the month was 27.9 degrees as compared with 18.1 de- grees for the 45-year average.

Precipitation was heavier than normal with more rain being rec- orded than snow. The temperatures during March were normal. The weather. however. was stormy and more than the normal snowfall was recorded. The lowest to persture for the year. was 10 de lreea below on March 14th. The summer months were cool and there ware,-no prolonged spells of warm weather. l-fig daily tem- llersturu occurred only flvl.

days when the sh-fmomotar raseh- ,

ed 50 degrees or higher. The weather during July and August was ahowsry and there

Qrdad during these two months. ,Wlih the excepv , of the month of September. the fall weather Was showery and cool.

-The hours of sunshi e were in- d n,

low normal forihe year. At the Ind of November 105.9 hours lens nshise were recorded than for ths ion time "average. 1lhe'grest.- olisy occurred in the

duly and

iotdylseurs

were as day: when rain was rec- ,

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orable for hay and pasture crops. average ior potatoes. but only fair for corn. Grain suffered heavy damage from lodging and, wea- thering.

AGIONOMY

Soil fertility studies which were established during the past number of years were continued in 1954. These projects study the effect of the following treatments on the yield and quality bf crops: com- mercial fertilizers (formulae and

rates); manurea and other organic

Mr. II. C. Parent, . Superintendent

materials; ground limestone. rock phosphates: and various combin- ations of the above treatments.

During 1954 an area of sloping land was divided into plots where water erosion of soil i will be studied. Various cropping prac- tices will be used and tanks will be located at'the lower end of the plots to collect surface run- off of soil and water.

Due to the lorig term nature of the projects under study. results to date are by no means con- clusive but they show some in- teresting trends. Where seaweed has been used as a manure during the past four years, the yield of potatoes. clover hay. and timothy hay have been increased about 75 per cent over the check plots. and barley yields have been increased 25 per cent. Plots which received cow manure at the same rate as seaweed (20 tons per acre) have outyielded the seaweed plots but the difference was not-great.

In a study of fertilizer formulae for potatoes, high phosphorus and potash levels gave highly signific- ant yield lncreases over a three- year period. Nitrogen also in- creased yields but. to a lesser ex- tent.

First year hay yields were the highest where high nitrogen and potash fertilizers were applied. but the sward was predominately grass with about only 25 per cent clover. On the other hand fer- tilizers high in .phosphorus and pot- ash. but low in nitrogen. although lower in yield, gave a sward con- sisting of about 75 per cent clove-

er.

In 1954 all potato plots at the Beach Grove Farm were planted with small whole tubers (seconds) instead of the usual cut sets, and good yields were obtained. This procedure does much to elimin- ate "misses" often caused by poor sets, especially when seeding op- erations are delayed because of wet weather.

Greenhouse tests for the purpose of studying the response of grain and alfalfa to various combin- ations of nitrogen, phosphorus and potash on different soil type were continued. On the soils used this year. the results show that a high level of nitrogen is required on all soils for the best yields of both grain and straw. The re- sponse to phosphorus and potash varied somewhat on each soil but. in general. phosphorus was shown to be slightly more important than potash.

Preliminary observations on the effect of molybdenum on yields of grain. alfalfa and red cloverf on the soils used in the greenhouse. did not show any appreciable ef- fect on grain or red clover but some benefit was indicated with alfalfa. These iesulis for me year. however. cannot be. consid- ered significant.

A detailed examination of ap- proximately 1.900 acres of land. in the Emyvale-Bonwell section of the Hunter River Basin area was made during the summer to study soil erosion. Evidence that sheet erosion and gullying have occur- red io a greater or lesser extent on most of the farm! in the sec-' tion was found.

Three hundred and fifty samples were received from farmers for analysis and fertilizer recom- mendations.

ANIMAL IIIJSBANDILY

' At the end of the year the Ayr- shire herd numbered 57 head of cattle. of which four were bulls. A2 breeding females and 33 young stock. In addition to keeping rs- oordl of production and feed con- sumption. the herd is used for various types of breeding and coding experiments. At the time of writing 1! milk cows are being used in In.ewerimant in deter- mine tl!l.mOlLdlsir&le rates of

. lid 01 ass silage. le- year work lhdlcate that cows will consume more to- tal digestible nutrients. and pro- ik. when any is fed

All cattle not It are no soil potatoes"

olu

Year (if an Activity. it he 1 Dominion Experimenta

Station -

inside a pole barn.- was filled with red clover and orchard grass. This silo has given excellent results and avoids many of the disad- vantages. such as mud and snow, often associated with outdoor loca- tions.

An important project which has been under study for the past five years is entitled "Progeny Testing of Pure Bred Ayrshire Bulls by" Means of Artificial In- seminatlon." In this experiment promising young bulls are bred to a minimum of twenty-five cows in the station herd and the herds of co-operating breeders. In this ex- periment the production of s group of h'eifers.,sired by one bull. is compared with that of another group of heifers. sired by another bull. In this way it is hoped that superior sires may be selected.

All Ayrshire calves are dehor-n- ed when a few days old using an electric dehomer. The electric de- horner has, over a period of yes? given excellent results. With e introduction of loose housing of dairy cattle dehorning has been found to be emential. ,-

To do away with the necessity of dehorning, the Experimental Station has secured from the cen- tral Experimental Farm, Ottawa, a polled Ayrshire bull. This bull "Clover Crest'New Design" is sir- ed by a polled bull classed "Ex- cellent" out of a dam who has given 85.588 (lbs. of milk in six lactations, This bull has already been bred to a number of cows in the S tlon herd and in the herds of a ew co-operating readers. The resulting crop of calves will be watched with a great deal of in- terest,

A new project was undertaken in the fall of 1954. namely. the col- lection of a small herd of identical twin calves. Seven pairs, or four- teen in all, have been collected. Identical twins in dairy cattle oc- our only about one in one thousand births. The animals are considered to have exactly the same genetic make-up and have been used quite extensively by a unmber of re- search workers with livestock in New zealand and Great Britain. and to a lesser extent in the United States. They are particularly valuw able in feeding and pasture trials.

The calves collected at Char- lottetown will be used principally for grazing experiments next sum- mer. In the meantime, they are being individually fed and a re- cord kept of their feed consump- tion and gains in weight. This will permit a comparison of gains made by animals of single and multiple births.

AGIIC ULTURE

The cool. showery weather of July and August reduced the honey production in the-Province and while good average yields were recorded the production per colony was four pounds less than in 1953. - .

Ninety colonies were operated in the Station apiaries. Projects car- ried on included: iThe use of anti- biotics in the control of bee dis- eases. comparisons of races of bees. and the effect on production when queens are removed from the colonies.

some

preliminary experiments

were carried out to ascertain the'

value of bees in the production of cucumbers Cool weather during the time the cucumbers were in bloom restricted bee activity.

Satisfactory results were obtain- ed where three colonies were placed in a one acre field. At three other locations where one colony was placed in one acre and one- half acre areas, results were not conclusive.

CEREAL CROPS

No new cereal variety recom- mendations will be made for the 1955 season. Abegwelt oats and Acadia spring wheat continue to produce higher yields than other named varieties. Several barley varieties on test for the first time were equal to or better than Char- lottetown No, no but further test- ing is necessary before definite conclusions can be drawn.

Septoria or "black stem" of oats was undoubtedly the most pre- valent cereal crop disease in 1954. It was found in severe proportions in all fleldb examined and yield losses were particularly high when straw breakage resulted. In- tensive studies of foreign varieties during the past two years has provided plant breeders with a few highly resistant varieties for use

in breeding programs. The pro-,

duction of varieties suitable for the Maritime area will be one of the main projects of the Cereal Division at the Experimental Sta- tion. The construction of a new header house and greenhouse, which will facilitate this type of work. will be completed early in 1955.

Indications are that there is a reduction in barley jolntworm damage in the areas of the Prov- ince which were first attacked by this insect. It is believed that a gradual build-up of parasitic in- sects which destroy the, joint- worm is responsible for this re- duction in damage. selections for yield and desirable type continues in the barley hybrids which have been bred for resistance to barley jointworm. V

Each year thousands of tons of valuable fertile soil are lost through erosion on ploughed fields. Pall rye. -snd to some extent fail wheat. seeded at two bushels per acre, have been used successfully in controlling the greatest ion of this type of erosion on t e la- perimental Fsnn. Best results are obtained when the crop is sown durilu t.ha- last week d August or

-".:.-ii-.:w..'.."'?'""'f?'-.:-.: -'""'”' ”'

wt-er vat-!er.i-s. The variety Du- .ilts showed up favourably as well. withvery rapid return growth after the first cutting. This variety has only been grown here for two years and may be susceptible winisnkiiling. although it has shown no signs of it as t. 1 It was noted in data from the t of 13 Clover varieties that Dollsrd. tawa Red. and Lasalle were closely comparable in yield and slightly better than the com- mercial seed teamed. tAn”excellent stand of Bihhfoot Trefoil was produced in 1954. from a 1953 planting. -mu legume is .low- growing. and produces a very good pasture but is usually rather slow to establish. If-lowever. two out- tings of grass silage and some pas- turage were obtained from a Red

try inspectors.

Clover - Orchard Grass - Tim- othy and Eirdsfoot Trefoil mix- ture, with no apparent harm to the Trefoil stand. ,

Experiments were carried on in 1954 with the lminor element Molybdenum. To date the results seem very. satisfactory. The ele- ment was applied to Red Clover as a seed treatment, and as a spray in early spring. with con- siderable increase in yield in both cases. These .experiments will be continued in 1955.

Several pasture experiments

were carried out in co-operation with the Animal Husbandry Divis- ion. Thwe included a comparison of strip grazing versus rotational

Air Theatre screen.

grazing. and a test of mixtures, using Ayrshire lsteers.

A new test of pastiire mixture which will be clipped to simulate grazing conditions was seeded in 1954

HOIITICULTURE

Weed Experiments with Canning Peas-This eioperiment was design- ed to show the effect of the newer weedicides on the control of weeds and on the yield of peas and hay. Particular emphasis was placed on the stand of grasses as it. is now a common practice to seed out the pea crop to fit it. into the regular farm rotation.

The materials used were cal- cium Cyanamld. Alanap I. Binox

x

P1, Dow! Selective and Dow's Premerge. These were used most- ly as pre-emergence treatments with the exception of Dow's Eri- ective and 'Dow'.e Premcrgc. Cne series of plots was double crcs seeded to pens to ascertain the effect of close planting on wood stand and yield. i -' In .'.'sr.:'.-al. Sincx P. I. produced the Last weed control and s the best pea yields in the chemically treated plots.- me. double-seeded plots. however. were the moat pro- ductive of the series but gave onv indifferent weed control. some inter-icing ronuu were gbarveg on tire seeded out crop. max . I, suppressed grades but the stand of legumes was excel- lent: Doers selective was just the to; while Dow's Premargo produced ts good hay mixmse. cal-

cium Cyuismld gave the most out- lftndlng stand of (full! and

Cl0Vel'l. DUI WI! rEl'l.ll'E1,V 10W in shelled pea yield.

From the 1,results obtained in 1954. double-aeedlnk Would ap-

cucumbers have been tested at this Station during the put sev- eral years: snow Pickling. Boston Pickling. Double Yield. Mincu. Pro-

pear to have some possibilities for. ducer. (mlosgo Pickle. Davis Blend.

to increasing pea yields but cannot

be considered s substitute for chemical ,weed control.. and may adversely affect the following hay

oruD- I

sincx P.'l:. may bezconsldered very promising from the stand- point of weed control and shelled pea production.

'A.rrived too late for pre-em- ergence treatment. .

F t Set and Yield Studies with Pick g Cucumbers - Investiga- tions were begun in 19 to deter-

mine the effect of hive "bees and ,

certain chemicals on fruit set.

A pair olfidentlcal twin Ayrsh ire calves. This, pair along with others will eventually be used for

color. and pi duction of closely

Model, Packer. lmvinas Pickle. Ohio MR.-l7. Auserken. York- state. Hybrid :1. Hytlrd 22. Green Thumb. Wisconsin 8.lidR. 12-92 Wisconsin B.M.l't.. ll-13. Wlloolllln BRO. Ohio MB. 35, Maine No. I.

Since spot rot (scab) is a limit- ing factor in pickling cucumber production in this area, only the following resistant varieties prov- ed to be of any value: Mains No. 2. Wisconsin 8.1!. 5. uisconsln 3. 14.3.. 12-9. Wisconsin S.M.B. I2- 12.

The wisconsin selections and the Maine No. 2 selection are ideally suited to Maritime conditions: The

planted cucumber vines. I-lived bees. seedless Set. Maleic Hy- drazlde (Mlvf-40). Folium and

Special Grade Calcium Cyanamid were used in this experiment. The bees were caged over the cucum- ber plots with an opening on one side of the cage to permit free entry and exit; the Calcium Cyano- mid. which was used as a defoli- ant. was put on a few days before harvest; and the other materials were sprayed on the blossoms and foliage at different intervals dur- ing the pre-harvest. period. In ad- ditjon. "one series of plots was sown at ten day intervals. three scedings being made beginning June is and ending July 5. All

View of Beach Grove Spil Fertility plots. taken from top of Open

plots were single harvested. Part of each seeding was used as bee pasture with the areas caged,

No significant results -were ob- tained from any of the treatments in 1954. The earliest seedlngs were the most productive, but the use of pollinators did not increase yields and may have deprueed them. Folium improved fruit color slightly but Special Grade Cal- cium Cyanamid. as a defoliant, was quite injurious to the fruits, especially in the smaller grades. Maleic Hydrazide did not appear to retar growth appreciably or affect bossom set.

Pickling Cucumbap Varieties - The following varieties of pickling

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special pasture experiments.

Demonstration of meat cutting at Poultry Cut.- up School for Retailers, held at Birch Court under direction of Mr. E. D. Bonnymanfassoclate chief. Poultry Services, Ottawa, Mr. F. M. Nash and poul-

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Wisconsin varieties are shorter and more blocky than Maine No. 2 and are preferred by some pro- cessors, However. Maine No. 2 has proved to be acceptable to Island processors and grades out most profitably for the growers. It is the main pickle variety in this province. -

Virus-Free Strawberry Selections -Virus-free stocks of Premier, 8 arkle grid Catskill were obtain-