FLAX CULTURE. 



manures should be used with caution and with an accurate knowledge of the constituents of 

 the land to which they are applied as well as of the fertilizer itself. The prudent farmer will, 

 so far as practicable, produce upon his own farm the manures necessary to keep up its 

 fertility. 



SEED. 



The selection of seed is a matter which is entitled to special consideration. Great care 

 should be exercised in this direction, as the success of the crop depends to no small extent 

 on the quality of the seed. 



Flax seed is considered of good quality when it is bulky and heavy, the faces of each 

 seed being equally plump and convex ; color a bright brown, uniform ; should sink in water ; 

 be easily combustible, burning with clearness and rapidity. The inside, when broken, should 

 be of a light yellowish-green color, should have a sweet taste and be very oily. Good seed, 

 too, is very even in its quality, and free from all mixture with other seeds, especially of 

 weeds. 



Only fresh seed is suitable for sowing. If it is more than two years old, it should 

 always be tested as to germinating power before regarding it as wholly reliable. This may 

 be done in the following manner : Place a few grains of seed upon flannel cloth stretched 

 out smoothly, and kept moist, in a warm room. If the seed germinates uniformly in about 

 twenty-four hours, it may be depended on as good ; if, however, the germination is delayed 

 several days, taking place unequally as to time, the seed should be rejected as unfit to sow. 



Another method of testing the vitality of Flax seed is given by Mr. Todd, the writer of 

 a recent prize essay: "To test Flax seed select a few grains and sprinkle them 

 "between two thin pieces of sod laid earth sides together, and put them on a shelf in the 

 " kitchen where they must be kept; warm, and not allowed to dry. In a few days every 

 ' ' seed that has not lost its vitality will germinate. Then by counting them we readily 

 " ascertain what proportion is good." 



Care should also be taken to clean the seed of all weed seeds, and other impurities which 

 will otherwise infest the land, and cost much labor and expense in weeding them out if ever 

 got rid of. The cleaning may be effected by a wire sieve, twelve meshes to the inch, cost- 

 ing about seventy-five cents. 



Right here let me say, that none but the very best and purest seed should be procured for 

 sowing. It is a false economy and most wretched management unworthy the intelligent 

 farmer of the present period, to buy low-priced seed in order to save a few dollars, thereby 

 running the certain risk 'of getting a crop which will barely cover the cost of production. 



So far we have considered only the general characteristics of good seed, and ways of 

 testing its vitality. But it is necessary to go much farther than this. It has become a 

 question of vital importance whether our American grown seed must not, after all, be 

 replaced by a foreign product, which shall yield far better results than have of late years 

 been obtained in this country. 



Hitherto, Flax has been grown in the states west of Pennsylvania chiefly, if not exclu- 

 sively, for the seed. Naturally it might be expected that the yield would be abundant and 

 certainly give a moderate profit above the cost of production. But such has not been the 

 fact. Fifteen years ago the yield of the Flax crop was from 12 to 15 bushels of seed 

 per acre, while at the present time it is from 5 to 10 bushels, giving an average of 

 7 to 8 bushels per acre, or only 50 per cent, of the former yield. The causes of this extra- 

 ordinary decline are not difficult to discover. They are to be found (i) in careless and 

 improper cultivation, and (2) in the very inferior quality of the seed sown, the great bulk of 

 which is entirely unfit for the purpose of reproduction. 



