REPORT OF THE SUPERINTENDENT OF THE EXPERIMENTAL FARM.
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Sir: When I was appointed to take charge of this place, in September, I found the southwest square and the southeast square had been manured and planted with a variety of seeds and roots. The other portions of the ground hid been ploughed several times, and a large quantity of first class manure from the government stables had been applied as a top dressing, and subsequently ploughed in. The grounds have been divided into six different lots, a drive going round the whole, and cutting across at two places, with one centre drive, so that all the several lots are of easy access. The land generally is of a clayey nature, with a slight admixture of sand, and had not been ploughed and cultivated for a long period before it was granted to the Department of Agriculture. The soil, naturally tenacious, had been trampled by many cattle while used as a government corral, and the action of the hot sun made it very hard to break up; but with constant stirring and the application of large quantities of well fermented manure, combined with the exposure of as large a surface as possible to the elements, it has become very friable and easily managed. The two south squares are of a more sandy nature, and are better adapted for growing vegetables than any of the other lots. There were no buildings on the place but a small office, but there has since been erected a good five-stalled stable for horses also a seed-room and tool-house, and attached to the main building there is a cart and wagon shed, also a yard in which the Angora goats are kept. A suitable office of two apartments has been erected at a convenient distance from the other buildings. The several kinds of grain and grasses which had been sown turned out remarkably well, considering the lateness of their planting and the condition of the soil. The sorghum was a fine crop, and from the small quantity sown there was raised two barrels of very fine, pure seed. Seventy-seven kinds of potatoes had been planted, fifty of them seedlings from Germany. The seedlings did not all come to proper maturity, but those which did were selected for further experiment. Some of the other varieties did very well, especially Goodrich Early, and a kind called the Orono Unrivalled; this last yielded immensely, and seems to luxuriate in this climate and soil. When the potatotes were dug, they were all pitted in the open air; first covered with six inches of straw, afterwards with twelve inches of earth, and then thatched with straw again, and during very severe frost a covering of fresh horse-manure was added, but removed on the return of thaw. All the potatoes kept well in this way and were in a fine condition when opened in spring. A small portion of land was sown with buckwheat, called Silver-skinned, the whole of which was saved for the purpose of sowing a greater breadth next season, as the kind is a very valuable one, being«a much clearer and thinner skinned variety than the usual kind in cultivation, and quite as prolific. Two acres of corn were sown for fodder; it grew very rapidly and produced an immense quantity of forage, which was well cured and fed to the horses all winter.
   The clovers, of which two varieties were sown, have taken with the ground well. The Alfafa or Chili clover grows very luxuriantly in the early part of the season, but dues not withstand drought so well as the Alsike clover. The Alsike is perennial in its nature, and will prove a great acquisition to this country, as it produces a very abundant crop, and is likely to suit this climate. Among this clover was found a millet, which appears to be a new variety, as there is nothing of the same kind in cultivation in this quarter. The millet from the Crimea is also a very valuable variety. It produces an immense amount of foliage, and grows about four feet high. There was a small yellow corn from southern Russia, which seems to be of considerable value, as it ripens in ninety days from the period of planting. All the seed is carefully saved for further experiment. There was also a very small bean from Russia, more like a pea than a bean in shape, which deserves especial attention. When first sown, it comes up very slowly; and when other beans, sown at the same period, are beginning to flower, this one has not made much show; but gradually it develops itself and spreads along the ground, covering a great breadth with a perfect mass of rich, dark green, luxuriant foliage, and producing an immense quantity of pods, which are generally about five inches long. The small area of ground experimented with produced at the rate of forty-two bushels per acre. Next season it will be more extensively cultivated.

GRASSES AND CLOVERS.
   About three acres were seeded down with timothy the first week in October. It came up very regularly, and the land being in good condition, it made a fine start before frost. The winter was very severe, and in the spring its appearance for a crop was very indifferent; but it gradually tillered out, and in the month of June there was cut and cured about eight tons of splendid hay. The aftermath has grown tolerably, and produced about two and a half tons of good hay. The Alsike clover and Alfafa, or Chili clover, both produced good crops of a succulent and nutritious nature. The Alfafa, when young, would make a very fine feed for foiling cattle, but it has a tendency to grow very woody and hard when allowed to mature. The Alsike, on the contrary, keeps green and luxuriant up to its period of ripening, and has not the same tendency to get hard and fibry. The other grasses sown are as follows:
   Medicago lupulino, Trifolium filiforme, Trifolium repens, Trifolium incarnatum, Onobrychis sativa, Apium petroselinum, Cynosurus cristatus, Plantago lanceolata, Festuca duriuscula, Festuca pratensis, Festuca ovina, Festuca tenuifolia, Festuca elatior, Anthoxanthum odoratum, Alopecurus pratensia. Poa pratensis, Poa trivialis, Poa nemoralis, Poa annua, Bromus Schraderi. Dactylis glomerata, Avena Flavescens, Evergreen rye-grass, Ayrshire perennial grass, Pacey's Perennial grass, Esparset, Pimpernell grass, Franz Raygrass, Black Nonesuch or yellow clover, yellow suckling clover, white clover, scarlet crimson or Italian clover, sainfoin, sheep parsley, crested dogstail, ribgrass, hard Fescue grass, meadow Fescue grass, sheep's Fescue, fine-leaved Fescue, tall Fescue, sweet-scented vernal, meadow foxtail, smooth-stalked meadow, rough-stalked meadow, annual meadow (from Australia,) orchard grass, yellowish oat grass, burr clover, cocksfoot grass, English Italian rye grass, clover from Richmond or Turkey clover, soft hairy cockle grass.