222 SOILS AND FERTILIZERS 



after one or two corn crops have been removed. The 

 food requirements of corn are satisfied by applications 

 of stable manure, occasionally re-enforced with a little 

 nitrogen and phosphoric acid. After clover, corn gives 

 excellent returns, and when corn is the chief market 

 crop it should be favored by having the best position 

 in a rotation. 



MISCELLANEOUS CROPS 



300. Flax is very exacting in food requirements 

 and for its culture the soil must be in a high state of 

 fertility. It is a type of weak feeding crop. There are 

 but few roots near the surface and consequently it 

 has restricted powers of nitrogen assimilation. 38 Flax 

 should be indirectly manured. Direct applications of 

 stable manure produce poor results, but when the 

 manure is applied to the preceding crop excellent re- 

 sults are obtained. Flax does not remove a large 

 amount of fertility, but if grown too frequently the 

 tendency is to get the land out of condition rather 

 than to exhaust it. The best conditions for flax cul- 

 ture require that it should be grown on the same land 

 only once in five years. Flax straw does not form 

 suitable manure for flax lands. Dr. Lugger has 

 demonstrated that there are produced, when the roots 

 and straw of flax decay, products which are destruc- 

 tive to succeeding flax crops. 77 Flax diseases are also 

 introduced into land by the use of diseased flax seed. 

 The food requirements of flax are met when it follows 

 corn which has been well manured, or a sod which 

 has been given the cultivation described for wheat. 



