Experimental Farm Stations Act

An Act respecting experimental farm stations Short title This Act may be cited as the Experimental Farm Stations Act. Definitions In this Act, farm station means an experimental farm station established under this Act; (station) Minister means the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food. (ministre) Principal and regional farm stations The Governor in Council may establish a farm station for the Provinces of Ontario and Quebec jointly, which shall be the principal or central farm station; the Provinces of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island jointly; the Province of British Columbia; the Province of Manitoba; the Provinces of Saskatchewan and Alberta and the Northwest Territories and Nunavut jointly; and the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador. Control of farm stations Farm stations shall be under the direction and control of the Minister, subject to such regulations as are made by the Governor in Council. Land for farm stations The Governor in Council may, for the purpose of establishing farm stations, acquire an extent of land in the vicinity of the seat of Government, for the central farm station, and an extent of land in any one of the Provinces of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick or Prince Edward Island, and an extent of land in the Province of British Columbia, for the farm stations mentioned in paragraphs 3(1)(b) and (c); set apart in the Province of Manitoba, and in any one of the Provinces of Saskatchewan and Alberta and the Northwest Territories and Nunavut, such tracts of unoccupied available public lands, being the property of Canada, as are necessary for the farm stations mentioned in paragraphs 3(1)(d) and (e); and acquire such other areas of land as may be necessary for the establishment of such other farm stations, or for additions to existing farm stations, as may be considered advisable and in the public interest. Land for tree planting and timber The Governor in Council may set apart, for the purpose of tree planting and timber growing, tracts of land in each of that portion of the Province of British Columbia known as the Railway Belt, the Province of Manitoba, the Province of Saskatchewan, the Province of Alberta, the Northwest Territories, and Nunavut, not exceeding ten sections in any of the areas listed in paragraphs (a) to (e). Expropriation Act to apply For the purpose of the acquiring of lands for the purposes of this Act, all the powers respecting the acquiring and taking possession of land conferred by the Expropriation Act are hereby conferred on the Minister, and all the provisions of that Act respecting the compensation to be awarded for lands acquired thereunder apply to lands acquired under this Act. Director and employees A director and such other officers, clerks and employees as are necessary for each farm station may be appointed in the manner authorized by law to hold office during pleasure. Salaries The salaries of the director and other officers, clerks and employees of each farm station shall be fixed according to the scale therefor provided by law. Duties of officers Such officers of each farm station as are charged with the duty by the Minister shall conduct research and verify experiments designed to test the relative value, for all purposes, of different breeds of stock and their adaptability to the varying climatic or other conditions that prevail in the various provinces and in the Northwest Territories and Nunavut; study the economic questions involved in the production of butter and cheese; test the merits, hardiness and adaptability of new or untried varieties of wheat or other cereals, and of field crops, grasses and forage-plants, fruits, vegetables, plants and trees, and distribute among persons engaged in farming, gardening or fruit growing, on such conditions as are prescribed by the Minister, samples of the surplus of such products as are considered to be specially worthy of introduction; analyse fertilizers, whether natural or artificial, and conduct experiments with those fertilizers, in order to test their comparative value as applied to crops of different kinds; study the composition and digestibility of foods for domestic animals; conduct experiments in the planting of trees for timber and for shelter; study the diseases to which cultivated plants and trees are subject and the ravages of destructive insects, and ascertain and test the most useful preventives and remedies to be used in each case; study the diseases to which domestic animals are subject; ascertain the vitality and purity of agricultural seeds; and conduct any other experiments and research bearing on the agricultural industry of Canada that are approved by the Minister. Quarterly reports The officer in charge of each farm station, or such other officer at each farm station as the Minister designates, shall, for the purpose of making the results of the work done thereat immediately useful, prepare and transmit through the director of that farm station to the Minister, for publication, at least once in every three months, a bulletin or progress report. Annual report The officer in charge of each farm station shall prepare and transmit through the director of that farm station to the Minister, on or before December 31 in each year, a full and detailed report of the work accomplished and of the revenue and expenditure at that farm station, which report shall be laid before both Houses of Parliament within the first twenty-one days of the next session.