Seed Selection 



Unless great care is taken in selecting seed, the flax roots are apt to 

 be afflicted with a wilt, a disease which is poisonous to a succeeding 

 crop of flax. 



Professor Bolley of North Dakota Agricultural College, who is an 

 authority on flax, has the following to say regarding it: 



"The constantly increasing demand for flax seed for commercial 

 use, year by year, increases the value of the crop as a farm rotation. 

 Flax is not 'hard' on the land. The crop, however, demands an espe- 

 cial care in handling. 



"Select a good strain or variety. Select only bright, plump, disease- 

 free seed. Grade to remove chaff, straw and light-weight seeds." 



"Do not sow flax on the same land more than once in four or five 

 years. 



"All flax seed should be treated before sowing to prevent wilt. Use 

 one pound of formaldehyde to each forty gallons of water, and a 

 half gallon of this solution for each bushel of dry seed. Use a sprayer 

 that throws a fine, misty spray. 



"Plow as deep as possible, then pack the soil firmly in any manner 

 that you can, but do not puddle the land while it is wet. Make 

 the seed bed so firm and smooth that the discs of the drill will not cut 

 deeper than one-half to three-quarters of an inch. Use rollers and 

 stone-boats for packing. 



"Drill at earliest date possible and yet avoid last real freeze. Late 

 seeding often brings good results, but the crop is liable to be caught by 

 fall rains and frosts. Frost in the spring does less damage than in 

 the fall. Sow from ten to twelve quarts of seed per acre. 



"Cut with a binder wherever possible. Thresh as soon as dry or 

 stack when dry. Select your seed from your most mature crop. Home- 

 grown seed is best." 



RICE 



WE fully appreciate the fact that rice culture belongs to the special- 

 ists, and that a full and comprehensive description of all of the 

 many requirements of the plant under a variety of conditions and loca- 

 tions is impossible in this book; hence, we will mention only a few of the 

 many operations for the purpose of discouraging the novice from reck- 

 lessly plunging into rice growing rather than to instruct the planter who 

 has made it a profession. 



