610 SCIENCE PROGRESS 



For the production of a tall uniform flax crop it is necessary 

 to sow the seed somewhat thickly and although errors may be 

 made in the direction of sowing either too sparingly or too 

 freely, the fault is more often seen of sowing too thinly. This is 

 the worse error because it allows the plants to take on a 

 broader growth and to branch lower down the stem than would 

 be the case were they closer together. Thin sowing brings 

 about an increased yield of seed but the fibre, for which the 

 crop is grown, suffers in being coarser and shorter. The 

 thicker the crop is sown the taller will be the plants before 

 branching, consequently the yield of fibre will be greater and 

 it will be of a finer quality ; but of course there are limits to 

 this beyond which it is foolish to go. 



Some of the highest rates of sowing in Ireland are from 

 if to 2 bushels per statute acre ; whereas in Holland and 

 Belgium as much as 3 bushels per statute acre are used. On 

 the very light soil in North Belgium 2 bushels of seed, 80 per 

 cent, germinating, are sown to the statute acre ; on the loam 

 soil in France 2^ bushels and on the new Polder land of 

 Groningen as much as 3 bushels per statute acre. 1 



For the most part sowing is done by hand ; especially is this 

 the case in Ireland and Russia. It requires exceptionally calm 

 weather and great skill on the part of the sower to obtain 

 anything like an even distribution of the small, slippery seed. 

 A small portable distributing machine known as the Violin 

 (or Fiddle in England) is extensively used in Holland, Belgium 

 and also in Ireland. The machine is so called because of the 

 to-and-fro motion of a bow-like handle necessary to actuate 

 a distributing wheel which is fitted at the base of the small 

 reservoir containing the seed. This simple little machine is 

 carried under the left arm of the sower and is steadily worked 

 with the right hand as it is carried at a uniform pace over the 

 field. Much of the difficulty attending broadcast sowing has 

 been overcome by its use. 



1 Before sowing it is advisable to test the germination of the seed, because in 

 some cases this varies rather widely. For example, Russian seed of which only 

 75 to 80 per cent, germinates will not go so far as Dutch seed of which 95 per 

 cent, germinates and this is approximately the extent to which differences are 

 found. Such tests, however, afford no criterion as to the value of the seed for 

 growing good crops and it must be remembered also that they are made under 

 conditions which are very different from those met with in the field, so that much 

 importance should not be attached to the results. 



