164 IRRIGATION FARMING. 



Flax. This is one of the neglected crops of the 

 United States, but it is coming into favor more commonly 

 here in the West. The crop requires but little moisture, 

 and if furnished early in the season insures a yield. 

 Flax may be sown any time in May, for good results, 

 though as late as the middle of June is not objection- 

 able if the ground at that time is found to contain 

 enough moisture to germinate the seed and promote 

 plant growth. Not less than forty-five pounds of seed 

 should be sown on an acre, while fifty pounds will give 

 better results in most cases. The yield of flaxseed 

 varies all the way from eight to twenty-five bushels to 

 the acre. It should be sown in drills nine inches apart, 

 or if broadcast the corrugated roller may be profitably 

 employed. As the crop is grown mostly for fiber, the 

 value of which depends greatly upon the length and fine- 

 ness of the stems, it should be kept growing steadily, 

 and may be irrigated every three or four weeks with 

 light heads calculated to sink deep into the soil, so as 

 not to coax the roots toward the top. After the plants 

 are three-quarters grown withhold the water and thus 

 give the fiber a chance to ripen properly before cutting. 



Hemp. Irrigation very much improves this crop 

 as it does flax. The land is laid off into beds three feet 

 wide, with spaces of a foot between each plat. The seed 

 is sown on these beds after the entire field has receive ! a 

 good preparatory soaking. The spaces between the beds 

 are reserved for cultivating and irrigating. After the 

 seed lias germinated a good irrigation is given through 

 the furrows, and the water is best applied when run 

 .^owly, so that it will seep through the beds from each 

 Every ten days the field should be irrigated until 

 within a fortnight of tho flowering period, when water - 



-lionld cease. If irrigated during the flowering the 

 pistillate flower* are weakened in fertilization and there 

 will be a decreased seed crop. As soon as the pollen has 



