SOWING 43 



sown crops last year were attacked with a small beetle or other 

 insect which did much damage and in some instances involved 

 a second sowing which the later sowing avoided. Conse- 

 quently, the old proverb, " Who soweth too lateward hath 

 seldom good seed ; who soweth too early little better shall 

 speed," is suggestive of the difficulty of determining just the 

 right moment for sowing. 



The observant farmer is the person who best knows when 

 to sow his flax seed and when the prepared soil is best suited 

 to receive it. 



The nature, quality and condition of the soil are factors 

 which govern or favour late or early sowing. If the soil is 

 wet and heavy then sowing at the end of April or early in 

 May is soon enough, bub if the soil is sandy, dry and free 

 from clods or lumps, the seed may be sown about the middle 

 of April. Flax growers who intend to put comparatively 

 large areas under cultivation, should sow at suitable intervals 

 from the middle of April to the end of May. 



45. Quantity of Seed per Acre. In the heavier soils a greater 

 proportion of seed fails to germinate than in the lighter soils, 

 hence in proportion as the soil is heavy and wet so must the 

 quantity of seed sown be increased as compared with the 

 lighter and drier soils. 



There are numerous factors which govern the quantity of 

 seed to be sown ; these chiefly include class, purity, and per- 

 centage of germination of seed. An important characteristic 

 of the flax plant, and which incidentally influences the pro- 

 portion of the seed to be sown per acre or other unit, is that 

 when the flax seed is thinly sown the growing plant throws 

 out a considerable number of small branch stems. The 

 resultant effect of such branching, is the production of fibre 

 which is both short and coarse. This form of sowing is, how- 

 ever, productive of a large quantity of seed and is consequently 

 the method adopted whenever flax is grown for seed to be used 

 for feeding purposes. When sown for the fibre the seed must 

 be scattered in greater profusion than for reproduction of seed 



