568 HORTICULTURE, FORESTRY, FLORICULTURE 



the area under cultivation was found to be small and steadily decreas- 

 ing, in the newer States, or States where agriculture is being pushed 

 steadily westward from year to year, the area under cultivation 

 seemed to be fairly holding its own, and was stated in round numbers 

 at about 1,000,000 acres. 



The incentive to grow flax for fiber as well as seed was never 

 more urgent than at the present time. In several flax-growing coun- 

 tries the supply is steadily declining, and foreign buyers are already 

 inquiring in this country regarding the possibility of making good a 

 portion of this deficiency from the product of American farms. 



The farmers of the United States use improved implements and 

 machines in all farm operations, and American farm implements are 

 recognized as the finest in the world. What invention has done for 

 other rural industries is possible for the flax industry and by the use 

 of improved machines in every stage of flax culture, the difference in 

 wages between this country and the Old World will be more than 

 equalized. The "American practice," then, means simply an intelli- 

 gent practice, for the growth of both fiber and seed, achieving econ- 

 omical production by the employment of labor-saving machinery, 

 even in the pulling of the flax straw. 



Fine flax can be grown in the United States, providing the 

 farmers grow it intelligently and perseveringly not one year, or two, 

 or three, but year after year, growing each year a little, and growing 

 it well. (F. B. 27.) 



Varieties of Field Flax. Considerable attention has been given 

 to the question of the existence of fixed varieties within the species 

 known as Linum usitatissimum, the common field flax. Most prac- 

 tical growers throughout Europe, and especially in Russia, contend 

 that mere are no absolutely fixed varieties. Numerous observations 

 made in the different countries, however, concerning single forms, 

 show that there are several well-marked varieties of cultivated field 

 flax. Among these are at least two which should be classed as spe- 

 cies, namely Linum usitatissimum L., including all of the small- 

 seeded varieties, and Linum humile Mill., including the large-seeded 

 varieties. Of the first-named species, the following varieties may be 

 listed: (1) Common blue-flowered fiber flax; (2) common blue- 

 flowered seed flax; (3) dehiscent-boll seed flax; (4) common white- 

 flowered fiber flax; and (5) white-flowered white-seeded flax. 



Of the big-seeded Sicilian species, Linum humile, the following 

 types may be noted: (1) Sicilian big-seeded, blue-flowered seed flax, 

 sometimes grown as a winter variety; (2) big-seeded, white flowered, 

 white-seeded flax; and (3) Indian seed flax, Egyptian seed flax, and 

 Argentine seed flax. The latter are large-seeded varieties of a char- 

 acter almost midway between the Sicilian big-seeded flax and the 

 common Russian seed flax. Each has some qualities distinguishing 

 it more or less definitely. (F. B. 274.) 



Climatic Conditions. As far as the growth of the seed crop is 

 concerned, its region of culture may be stated to be similar to that of 

 successful spring wheat cultivation, while the fiber crop is at present 

 produced in regions of heavier rainfall and somewhat cooler and 



