ACREAGE TO SOW ROTATION. 



ACREAGE TO SOW. 



The next point to consider, and an important one, is as to what extent, or in what propor- 

 tion the farm should be devoted to Flax raising. Of course this cannot hastily be deter- 

 mined, nor can an inflexible rule be laid down. Much depends upon the farmer's ability to 

 thoroughly work the land, and keep it in the high state of cultivation which is really the 

 basis of successful Flax farming. 



There Is no farm crop for which the soil needs so thorough preparation as that required 

 for Flax ; nor is there any crop that will give better returns for the cost and labor of fertiliz- 

 ing and pulverizing the soil, and keeping it clean of weeds. 



The farmer, therefore, must needs count the cost himself, and with his eyes open to the 

 necessities of the case, use his best judgment as to the acreage he can profitably devote to 

 the Flax crop, in order to secure the 1 highest yield both of fiber and seed. 



ROTATION. 



Neglect of the important matter of rotation has been to a great degree the cause of the 

 diminution in yield per acre, and consequently of disappointment to the farmer in raising 

 Flax. This crop should never be grown successively upon the same field. There should be 

 an interval of from 6 to 10 years between crops, so that the land under cultivation may 

 regularly receive back from the different manures applied a portion of the special nutritive 

 elements of 'which it was depleted by the Flax, and after the interval specified be enabled to 

 abundantly feed another similar crop without any artificial recuperation of the soil. 



If, before sowing Flax again in the same field, some 7 or 8 years are suffered to pass by, 

 it is reasonable to expect a good crop ; but the shorter the interval between the crops the 

 less is the second to be counted on for a fair yield either of seed or fiber. 



In the West and Northwest Flax is frequently sown upon sod land, and although 

 heavy crops are generally produced, the practice is to be discouraged. One objection is the 

 difficulty of bringing such land into a satisfactory condition of tillage. Another is the dam- 

 age to be apprehended from the cut-worm, which attacks Flax as well as other grains sown 

 in sod land. It were much better to let the Flax follow potatoes upon such land. Too fre- 

 quently it follows wheat or oats, grown after a root crop the previous year, which only 

 answers where the condition of the land is maintained by extra manuring. Flax should 

 never follow turnips ; it has been shown by repeated experiments in Europe that such a 

 rotation is sure to result in failure. 



The diagram given below will show at a glance a system of rotation which if followed, 

 allowing for the necessary modifications to adapt it to different farms, will maintain the land 

 in a fertile condition. It will be observed that the crop of Flax occupies the same ground 

 after the lapse of 9 years ; also, that it never follows turnips. 



The system commonly known as the four-course rotation, in which Flax may be included, 

 will doubtless keep up the fertility of the land, but instead of putting all the land into wheat 

 that had been in a root crop the previous year, it would be preferable to make a division, 

 and sow two-fifths to Flax, and three-fifths to wheat. 



What would really re-invigorate the production of this valuable crop would be the reduc- 

 tion of the acreage allotted to wheat, and the substitution of Flax. 



