Welcome to the Central Experimental Farm!This farm is unique in the world: it’s the only working farm in the heart of a capital city.This farm is also a national historic site and an outdoor laboratory for scientists. Their research has had a significant impact on the daily lives of Canadians for more than 130 years.How? That’s what we’re going to find out during this visit.The story of the Central Experimental Farm begins in 1886. At that time, most Canadians were farmers and their lives were not easy. Crops were sometimes poor, and the land was difficult to cultivate.To help farmers, the Government of Canada called upon scientists. They were tasked with finding solutions to farmers’ problems and developing plant varieties suited to Canadian soils and climate.And, the scientists succeeded!The Central Experimental Farm in Ottawa quickly became the heart of a network of research centres across the country. Today, the Farm continues to contribute to the economic success of Canadian agriculture.Let’s explore this unique farm.Press "Next" to start the visit.
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2. Cereal Barn
We’re now standing next to the old cereal barn where early era Farm researchers had their labs.Let’s go back to 1888, to the laboratory of a particular scientist at the Department of Agriculture: Charles Saunders.Saunders’ job was to crossbreed different varieties of wheat. He wanted to create a type of wheat that was better suited to Canadian conditions.To find out if a variety of wheat would make good bread, Saunders would chew the grains to make a ball of dough in his mouth. He knew that the more elastic the dough, the more gluten it contains. Gluten is essential for making spongy bread.After more than 15 years of research, Charles Saunders finally succeeded in developing a variety of wheat which met all of his criteria. He called it Marquis wheat.By 1918, Marquis wheat occupied about 80% of total wheat acreage in Canada. The exceptional yield and baking quality made Marquis wheat a great economic success.Watch the video to learn more about Marquis wheat and other research that contribute to the production of good Canadian bread.
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3. Greenhouses
The older greenhouses in front of you are rarely used today because the Central Experimental Farm has two modern greenhouse complexes dedicated to research totalling 2,300 m2. They are located near the main building of the Ottawa Research and Development Centre.Greenhouses have been used on the Farm for many decades to help pursue plant breeding year-round.Plant breeding is when researchers choose two “parent” plants that have the traits they are looking for, such as high seed yield and resistance to the cold.Researchers then cross the two plants, and then cross them again. After multiple crossbreedings, the result is a new plant that has both desired traits.Today, researchers still use the selection or crossing method and also use leading-edge genomics tools to develop new plants with the objective of helping farmers increase yields, reduce environmental impacts and find new uses for agricultural products.As for the Tropical Greenhouse, it was originally built in Major’s Hill Park in downtown Ottawa, and was moved to the Farm in 1938 to support horticulture research.Recently renovated, this greenhouse contains the Farm’s tropical plant collection. Go in and see!
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4. Research Centre
Here you can see the main building of the Ottawa Research and Development Centre.It houses many national collections (that you’ll learn more about at the Saunders Building) and leads national studies on agricultural ecosystems and the environment, like the lifecycle of carbon and nitrogen when in the air, in water and in soil.Here, government researchers are also tasked with breeding new plant varieties, like grains and oilseeds, which meet the needs of Canadian farmers and consumers.To test new varieties, researchers first grow seeds in small quantities in greenhouses.After harvest, researchers carefully analyze the seeds: they look at them through a microscope, verify their composition and evaluate their performance in food products such as bread.The seeds that meet the required criteria are then grown in open fields on the Farm.The Farm is the size of 425 soccer fields and has approximately 100,000 research plots, which are used by the Farm’s scientists.Each plot corresponds to a test crop. Over the last five years alone, these tests have enabled researchers to develop more than 20 new varieties of wheat, barley, soybeans and oats, including the famous naked oats, which don’t have hulls or hairs.And if the new plant variety passes the field and quality tests, it will end up on our plates in bread and other food products.As previously mentioned, the modern greenhouses are located (to your left) just west of the main building (which you are infront of).
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5. Observatory
On your right is the Dominion Observatory.Did you know that the Observatory used to be indispensable to Canadians? It’s true! The Observatory provided the official time for Canada until 1970.Do you see the tower with its clock dial? The dome just above the clock was built in 1905. It used to house a telescope that astronomers needed to measure time. To do that, they would note the precise moment when certain stars were at their highest point in the sky.Yes, you can measure time by looking at the stars!The astronomers would transmit the exact time to government departments, Parliament and railways.Even the official time signal on CBC Radio was synchronized with the time given by the Observatory.Today, the Observatory is one of the three most important heritage buildings in Ottawa, after the Parliament Buildings and the Canadian Museum of Nature.
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6. Saunders Building
The Saunders Building houses Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s National Collection of Vascular Plants.All plants with roots and vessels that conduct water are called vascular plants. This collection contains one and a half million specimens.The Saunders Building also houses the National Mycology Herbarium. Mycology is the study of mushrooms. This collection contains nearly 350,000 specimens! The Herbarium has good mushrooms, as well as bad ones that live as parasites on plants and are responsible for numerous diseases.And let’s not forget our bugs: the Research Centre also has one of the world’s five most important collections of insects, spiders and nematodes, which are a type of worm.The insect collection, housed in the main building of the Research Centre, has 17 million specimens.These three collections are very useful for a wide variety of research work and are especially important for identifying pests.
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7. Heritage House
Do you see this beautiful house? You’ve seen others during our visit. Today, they are used as offices or laboratories.But in the past, they were homes for program managers and workers who took care of the animals on the Farm.The Farm’s first director, William Saunders, lived and worked here with his family, including his son Charles, who created Marquis wheat. Do you remember him?Initially, the Farm was outside the city, and its employees created a sort of community here. They had a sports association, contests for the best laying hen, and more.The Farm was also open to visitors. It quickly became not only a science-based institution, but also a place of recreation.People from the city used to come here to play or have picnics and tea parties.The Central Experimental Farm had to be exemplary in every way because William Saunders defended the ideas of usefulness and beauty. He said that in order to do a good job, people have to live and work in a healthy and pleasant environment.Today, the Farm is still a recreational site and much prized by Ottawa residents.
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8. Arboretum
There’s much to see in the Dominion Arboretum.The Arboretum was created in 1889 as part of the horticulture program to help Farm researchers better understand what types of trees and shrubs could grow in our Canadian climate.Many specimens planted at that time are now the largest of their kind in Canada.Exotic plants were supplied by the best nurseries in Europe, Asia and North America.Today, the Arboretum welcomes approximately 175,000 visitors per year. It allows foresters to study forest pests, such as the emerald ash borer, and it serves as a living library for university students, scientists and horticulturists.They can come here to see and compare 4,000 specimens representing 600 species of trees and shrubs, all labelled with care.
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9. Exhibit Panels
Take in the beautiful view of Dow’s Lake, which is part of the Rideau Canal waterway. Seven exhibits sites along the Rideau Canal Promenade inform visitors about the history of the canal and key sites in Ottawa, including the Central Experimental Farm.
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10. Canal Lookout Point
Look at the Rideau Canal.Without it, Ottawa would not be the capital city it is today.The Canal was excavated in 1826 so that boats could avoid the St. Lawrence River in the event of war with the United States.But the war did not occur. Instead, the Canal became a busy commercial route. Buildings, sheds and factories sprang up along its banks to support Ottawa’s growing industries.Then, in 1899, the Prime Minister of Canada decided to beautify the capital.And William Saunders, director of the Central Experimental Farm, contributed greatly to the beautification efforts. As a member of the Ottawa Improvement Commission, he supplied trees from the Arboretum’s nursery and oversaw their planting along the Rideau Canal Promenade.Imagine: all of those trees were planted by hand, one by one!
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11. Entrance to the Ornamental Gardens
The flowers in the Ornamental Gardens are certainly quite beautiful, but why are there flowers on a site dedicated to agriculture research?Well, according to the first mandate of the Farm, one of its roles was to study new and untried varieties of fruits, vegetables, plants and trees.Saunders, the first Director of the Farm, saw this as an opportunity to do research on all types of plants, including ornamentals, a task he delegated to William Tyrrell Macoun. The garden in which you now stand is named in his honour.While fruit trees and vegetables were grown and studied on the Farm during its earlier years, current research on these crops is done on other experimental farms in Canada.As for the ornamental plant research on the Farm, it was a resounding success for many decades. Having achieved its goals, it was replaced by research programs that aim to find solutions to today’s agricultural challenges.Take a walk around the gardens. You’ll see crabapple trees and many other specimens from research overseen by Macoun.
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12. Heritage Rose Garden
Watch out for thorns! Yes, we’re in the Heritage Rose Garden now.There is something special about these roses: many of them were created by two women scientists, Felicitas Svejda and Isabella Preston.Preston was hired by W.T. Macoun in 1920. At the time, female scientists were a rarity.You cannot imagine how passionate and patient these women were!To cross crabapples, for example, Preston pollinated each flower by hand. With a brush, she deposited a bit of pollen on each flower to fertilize them. The pollinated flowers each produced a crabapple. When the crabapple was ripe, Preston removed its seeds and planted them. Then she waited for the plant to grow, and she started the crossing process once again.It took years to obtain a new variety. But patience pays off!In addition to crossing crabapples, Preston developed more than 200 varieties of roses, irises, lilies and lilacs, all popular plants in Canadian gardens.
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13. Conclusion
Marquis wheat, Explorer roses, naked oats. Since it was founded, the Central Experimental Farm has been developing plant varieties that are better suited to meet the needs of Canadian farmers and consumers.The Farm’s reputation skyrocketed from the start. In the late 1800s, the Farm received 1,000 letters per week from Canadian farmers, and its first director, W. Saunders, wondered how he and his employees would manage to meet all the demands and expectations of these farmers as they faced various agricultural challenges.Today, the Ottawa Research and Development Centre is known around the world as a centre for research excellence. Its scientists participate in numerous studies in collaboration with public institutions and the agricultural sector.The Farm’s researchers continue to work to find solutions to the great economic, food and environmental challenges here and around the world, since Canada is a major exporter of agricultural products.Would you like to find out more about agriculture? Visit us online at https://www.agr.gc.ca, on YouTube, on Facebook, on Twitter.You can also come discover exhibits and farm animals at the Canada Agriculture and Food Museum, located nearby.Thank you for visiting the Central Experimental Farm!
Turn Left : towards stop 2
Follow the path on your left towards building 77 and continue past it.
Turn right
Turn right at the stop sign and walk towards the parking lot. Be careful and watch for cars!
Turn left
Turn left and keep walking along the parking lot, past Buildings 75C and 75A to the NCC Driveway.
Turn left
At the fire hydrant turn left and follow the sidewalk along the street past building 75. Public washrooms are located on your left up ahead, if needed. Be careful of oncoming cars.
Cross Maple Drive
Cross the street towards the sidewalk on Maple Drive. Be careful: look both ways when crossing and yield to oncoming cars.
Towards stop 4. Research Centre
Turn left on Winding Lane. Please stay on the sidewalk. Be careful: look both ways before crossing and yield to oncoming cars.
Towards stop 6. Saunders Building
Cross Maple Drive towards Saunders Building. Please stay on the sidewalk. Be careful: look both ways before crossing and yield to oncoming cars.
Go straight ahead
Continue past the Saunders Building until you reach the T-junction.
Turn left
Turn left on NCC Driveway and walk towards the roundabout.
Straight ahead
Cross the roundabout, and continue straight ahead to the entrance of the Arboretum. Be careful: look both ways when crossing. You must yield to cars in the roundabout.
Towards Arboretum
Continue into the Arboretum on the NCC Driveway and watch out for cars. Keep left on this road. You will face oncoming traffic.
Keep right
Turn right to stay on gravel road through the Arboretum.
Towards exhibit panels
Walk slightly left, and head towards the exhibit panels adjacent to the Rideau Canal Western Pathway.
Keep right
At the fork coming up, keep right on the gravel path.
Towards wooded area
Turn right onto the small path to go into the wooded area.
Turn left
Follow the path to the left.
After stop 10
Continue walking back to the roundabout. Be careful: you will face oncoming traffic.
After stop 10
Cross Prince of Wales Drive to head towards the Ornamental Gardens. Be careful: look both ways before crossing. You must yield to cars in the roundabout.
Towards Ornamental Gardens
Continue walking and turn left to enter the Ornamental Gardens.
Go straight ahead
Locate a small brown shed, and head towards it, following the path.
Go straight ahead
Continue walking up the path to the stop sign.
Go straight ahead
Continue along the sidewalk until you reach the intersection of Winding Lane and Maple Drive. Cross the road to stay on the sidewalk.
Turn around
Turn around and head back down Maple Drive, towards the greenhouses again.
Go straight ahead
Continue past Saunders Building, then turn around on Birch Drive.
Turn left
Keep left to continue to NCC Driveway, then, pass Building 72 (public washrooms and Friends of the Farm) and enter Arboretum on the gravel road beyond the gate. Please watch your footing while taking in the view.
Go straight ahead
Follow the Rideau Canal Western Pathway along the south-eastern shore of Dow's Lake. Be careful of oncoming cyclists.
Go straight ahead
Continue on NCC Driveway through the Arboretum.
Continue ahead
Continue ahead: Continue through the arch at the other end of the garden. Be careful of uneven ground is also twice, before and after Stop 12.
Go straight ahead
Continue through the arch at the other end of the garden. Be careful of uneven ground.
End
Thank you for completing the self-guided tour. Please head back to the parking lot.
Turn around
Turn around and head back down Winding Lane, where you came from. Turn left on Maple Drive. Please stay on the sidewalk
Turn right
Turn right on Birch drive. Please stay on sidewalk.
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