298 Agricultural Gazette of X.^. IF. [^;;HZ 2, 1908. 



'V\u' raiiit'all of tut) districts may \ai\- murli a^ \n aninmit, yet tlir l^■^lllls 

 as to soil ami at inos],|icric plant riixiioiiincnt remain essentially similar. 

 Tlic less mi'asuraltic t'caturcs ot' simsliiiir. cloudiiiess, foggiiH's<, general 

 atmospheric liiimiility, i^c, arc matters wluili \itally affect plant growth, 

 and these are esjx'cially notewnrthy as aUcriiiiL; tlic Hax ci'op. Foi' the 

 production of line long libre of t-ww (juality, the jiiant must have an even, 

 rathei' slow development, with fi-w, if any, sudden checks. The cloudy sky 

 and cdol humid air, with an cxcii liut not too great soil moisture throughout 

 the period of growth, is a featureof all IlKre dislriets. 



Soil Conditions. 



observations and studies of the ^oil relations of the flax cro|) lead to the 

 belief that the question of soil type and fertility, as affecting the successful 

 culture of this croj), is one of far less importance than has usually been 

 supposed. Nearly all writers on fla.x culture have thought it necessary to 

 state that flax demanrls a very fei'tile soil. The writers ob.servations in 

 America, the Netherlands, Belgium, llussia, and .Vustria do not confirm the 

 belief of those writers. The lighter soils of Ward and Kamsey counties. 

 North Dakota, equal or excel the most fertile soils of the North-west in 

 flax-seed production ; and the light, sandy, very poor forest or scrub lands of 

 some of the flax districts of llussia easily produce the finest types of fibre 

 llax when the system of culture is at all intelligent. Indeed, in Russia, the 

 writer found the peasantry continuing the culture of flax upon soils naturally 

 light, and so im])0verished from the long-continued ruinous "three-crop'' 

 rotation that the growing of oats aiid rye was no longer a possible consider- 

 ation. This was a surprising confirmation of previous conclusions drawn 

 from woi-k done at the North Dakota xVgricultural Experiment Station. It 

 has also been shown in this work that the fiax plant is less radical in its 

 draft upon the soil than wlieat, corn, or oats. 



Experiments conducted by the North Dakota Station on large plots 

 definitely illustrate that fiax is not particulai-ly hard on the soil. Jn the 

 Red River Valley it has ofteji been found that the soil is too fertile for the 

 growth of a flax crop when atmospheric and soil moisture is normal. The 

 farmers of the valley often put tlax up)t)n summer-fallowed lands, thinking 

 that such lands are too sti'ong for the wheat crop. Observations of this 

 pi-actice have shown that very often the tlax crop almost fails, and produces 

 a poorer yield of .seed becaus(> of this extra fertility. In drought}' seasons 

 the fiax crop has shown itself able to stand on very fertile lands, but 

 frequently it is almost woi'tliless when anything moic than an ordinary i-ain- 

 fall occurs. It has also been very clearly demonstrated at the North Dakota 

 Station that consideralily better crops of wheat may l)e rai.sed after flax than 

 after wheat. 



By comparing soil statistics, contrasting tlie chemical c(»mposition oi farm 

 crops, and considering extremely various types of soil upon which fine crops 

 of fiax fibre and fiax-seed have been grown, it lias been made evident that 

 flax-growing is not injurious to the soil. The chemical analyses of the soils 



