COVERING SEED WHEN TO SOW. 15 



can be done by hand. Another advantage offered by these implements is the large acreage 

 which can be sown in a short time. - The saving in labor thus secured is very large, and 

 there is a material saving also in the quantity of seed required. When, however, hand sow- 

 ing is to be employed, especial care should be taken to sow as evenly as possible, the sower 

 proceeding with a regular step, taking small tight handfuls, and casting the seed with 

 regular throws high and fearlessly, allowing each cast to slightly overlap the preceding one. 

 If not careful the slipper)' seed will escape in the backward swing of the hand, and thus not 

 only waste, but render the seeding irregular. Some cultivators advise soaking the seed in 

 tepid water for two or three days, and then rolling same in gypsum or plaster. This reme- 

 dies the slipperiness, and the gypsum is beneficial in effect upon the germinating seed. 



It may be suggested that if the farmer intends sowing a large acreage to Flax, it will be 

 well not to do all the sowing at one time, but at an interval of a week or ten days, in order 

 that time should be given to harvest before part of it gets over-ripe. 



COVERING SEED, 



The seed should not be covered too deeply. One inch of soil is sufficient, and it should 

 be as uniformly of this depth as possible. Therefore, a light, fine-tooth harrow, is best 

 adapted to this work. Some very careful cultivators do not allow a team of any kind to be 

 driven over the land after the seed has been put in, but draw a brush harrow, by hand, over 

 the soil, regarding this the preferable wa-- of covering the seed. Such a harrow can readily 

 be made by inserting the butt ends of brush (small branches of trees) about two feet long in 

 holes bored in a piece of scantling, which should be about five feet in length, To this 

 scantling shafts or handles may be fitted, so that the narrow can be drawn by a man or boy. 

 With this "harrow" several acres can b^ "brushed in" in a day. It would be well to 

 also cross-harrow the land with this brush so that no ridges be left, and the land may lie 

 uniformly smooth. The effectiveness of such a brush harrow may be increased by adding to 

 its weight a few billets of wood fastened to the scantling which holds the brush in place. 

 Rude as is this novel implement, it will be found most competent for the purpose of prop- 

 erly covering the seed. Where the acreage is large, however, a light harrow drawn by 

 horses will of course be the most practicable. 



WHEN TO SOW, 



Owing to the wide range of climate in which Flax is (or may be) cultivated in the United 

 States, no invariable rule can be given, much depending on the peculiarities of the season as 

 well as geographical position. 



As a matter of course Flax may be sown much earlier in Missouri or Kentucky than in 

 Minnesota, Wisconsin or Dakota, for there would be much less risk in the section first men- 

 tioned of late Spring frosts, which frequently do serious injury to the tender plant, causing 

 it to branch, to the great detriment of the crop. The Flax grower is therefore to be guided 

 by his own experience and observation in his own section as to the right time for seeding. 

 A few suggestions, however, may be of service in determining the point. Sow after tie 

 soil has become settled and thoroughly wanned by the influence of the sun, when weeds and 

 grass have well started, and the trees begin to unfold their leaves. If sown too early 

 much of the Flax is liable to be stunted ; late frosts will injure it more or less, and weeds 

 are sure to get the start of the plants unless extra pains have been taken in clearing the soil 

 of their roots beforehand. In the middle wheat belt of the United States the average time 

 of sowing is from the ith to the 2Oth of April, in ordinary seasons, and in favorable 

 weather. 



