314 CHArTBR XIX 



often broadcasted, and should not be planted deeper than 

 chreequarters of an inch — consequently, if broadcasted, a 

 weeder or very light harrow should be employed to cover the 

 seed. 



For fibre 80 to 100 pounds, and for seed 30 to 50 pounds 

 per acre, should be sown. Before sowing, the seed should 

 be treated with formalin in the same way that wheat is 

 treated for stinking-smut. 



Harvesting. — The crop takes 90 to 100 days to mature 

 seed; it does not mature very uniformly, consequently judg- 

 ment must be used to harvest when the percentage of capsules 

 are ripe at one time. It is generally cut with a reaper and 

 binder, or mower, then stocked, and, when thoroughly dried, 

 threshed. 



Harvesting for fibre requires skill and care. The crop is 

 hand pulled as soon as the capsules begin to turn yellow. It 

 is laid out in swaths and allowed to dry. after which the 

 capsules are " rippled off," or may be beaten off with mallets. 

 After this it is graded and bundled for " retting," by the aid 

 of which the fibre is ultimately freed. This consists in steep- 

 ing the flax in water for five to fifteen dayo. thereby enabling 

 certain biological processes to fiydrolise the tissue surround- 

 ing the fibre. It is next dried, and the processes of " break- 

 ing," " scutching," and " hackling," follow. In these the 

 fibre is separated from the rest of the stem. It is then sorted, 

 graded, and baled ready for market. 



About six hundred pounds per acre is considered a fair 

 yield of fibre, and eight hundred pounds a good yield of 

 linseed from a crop grown for the seed. The fibre crop, in 

 addition to the fibre yield, gives about five hundred pounds of 

 seed, much of which is immature. 



Improvement. — The crop in South Africa is likely to 

 develop as a grain- rather than a fibre-cron. In Europe, 

 varieties are distinguished as fibre and linseed types, the 

 latter branching more, being heavier linseed yielders and having 

 larger and heavier seed. For our conditions, however, grain 

 varieties should be chosen, and selection from these should 

 be made for size and weight of seed, allied with high total 

 yield. Disease resistance can be acquired by selecting the 

 seed from surviving plants in badly infested fields, and con- 

 tinuing to do so each year. 



