FLAX CULTIVATION 101 



to which the crop is subject. It is caused by the 

 fungus, Asterocystis radicis, which attacks the young 

 plant when about 3 or 4 inches above the ground. 

 The stem of the plant becomes yellow, the lower 

 leaves wither and fall, and eventually the plant looks 

 as if it had been burned. At the first signs of the 

 disease, all affected plants should be pulled up and 

 destroyed. If a whole field should become infected., 

 flax should not be grown in it again for at least 8 

 or 10 years. 



The flax-wilt disease is due to Fusarium lini, and 

 is first recognised by the withering of the young 

 plants. It usually appears in patches of a few feet 

 in diameter and, if unchecked, it gradually spreads 

 throughout the whole crop. The disease is trans- 

 mitted from place to place by means of spores attached 

 to the flax seeds. If the seeds intended for sowing 

 are sprayed with a solution, containing i pint of 

 commercial formalin in 40 gallons of water, any spores 

 present on the seeds are killed, This treatment must 

 be applied in such a way as merely to moisten the 

 seeds, since if they are actually wetted they tend 

 to stick together. The fungus is liable to persist in 

 the soil and infect successive crops ; such land is 

 said to be " flax-sick." It is therefore inadvisable to 

 grow two crops of flax in succession on the same land, 

 but a rotation of crops should be adopted. 



Flax-rust is due to another fungus, Melampsora 

 lini. The disease can be detected by the presence of 

 small orange spots on the sterri&> leaves or sepals, or 

 by the occurrence of smooth, black patches on the 

 stem. Affected plants should be uprooted and burned. 



The flax dodder (Cuscuta epilinum) is a parasitic 

 plant of the natural order Campanulacese, and its 

 seeds are often found mixed with those of flax. The 

 dodder attaches itself to the stem of the young flax 

 plant and draws its nourishment from it, with the 

 result that the growth of the flax plant is checked 

 and the stems are rendered of no value for fibre. 

 The dodder seeds are much smaller than those of the 

 flax plant, and can be removed from the latter by 

 means of a sieve of fourteen meshes to the linear inch. 



