108 GROUND FEEDS. 



FLAX FAMILY Linaceae. 



FLAX Linum usitatissimum L. 



This plant has been in cultivation from very ancient 

 times. Its stems produce the fibre of linen, and its seeds 

 are used for oil and feed. In western Canada where the 

 plant is raised extensively for its seed, disastrous effects 

 have come from the feeding of screenings containing 

 immature flax bolls and frozen flowers. 



J. R. Dymond, late of the Seed Branch, Ottawa, re- 

 ceived a sample of flaxseed screenings with the following 

 statement from a farmer in Saskatchewan: "A few 

 weeks ago I fed about three gallons to a cow and two gal- 

 lons to a heifer. Both were in convulsions in less than 

 twenty minutes. The heifer died in about two hours, the 

 cow in about eight hours." On analysis the sample was 

 found to consist of : immature flax bolls and chaff, 75% ; 

 flaxseed, 18% ; wheat, 4% ; weed seeds, 2%. A chemical 

 analysis showed a considerable proportion of prussic acid. 

 Corroborative reports have come from other places where 

 screenings containing immature flax bolls have been fed, 

 and it is now an established fact that they develop prussic 

 acid in sufficient quantity to make them dangerous in 

 feeds. 



The plant is too widely cultivated to need description 

 here. 



