Proceedings of tue Farmers' Club. 505 



Changing Seed. 



Mr. II. C. Dickinson, Sylvania, Penn., asked if it is necessary to 

 change the seed of different kinds of grain, to be sown on the same 

 farm, and how often. 



Mr. F. D. Curtis — ISTo change is necessary, provided the land is 

 kept in good heart. Good land makes good seed, and permanent, too. 

 A change of seed will not insure a good crop, unless the land is rich. 

 This is the main thing. 



Mr. Henry Stewart — I have found seed to depreciate when grown 

 in a warm climate — oats, wheat and potatoes more especially. New 

 Brunswick oats, which weighed forty-seven pounds to the bushel, in 

 three years depreciated to thirty-two pounds; but when that light 

 seed was sent to Canada, it was restored to its former weight. The 

 same proved true of wheat. Potatoes were also improved by such a 

 change. The general experience among farmers, I think, is similar to 

 mine. 



Flax foe Fiber and fok Feed. 



Mr. George Anderson, Mansfield, Ohio — The profitableness of flax 

 raising in the west would depend entirely upon the facilities for trans- 

 portation and the supply of labor, as well as the adaptability of the 

 soil and climate to the crop. In this State the average yield for 1869 

 and 18T0, according t6 statistics, was not only seven and a half bush- 

 els per acre. The past season, flax yielded well, and twelve bushels 

 per acre was common, and as high as seventeen to twenty was raised, 

 although the latter was exceptional. In the State of New York and 

 the province of Ontario, Canada, where flax is raised for the fiber as 

 well as the seed, the average yield is estimated by practical men at 

 ten bushels per acre. "What the statistics are I cannot say. The. 

 quantity of seed sown varies. In this section and further west, where 

 flax is raised mainly for the seed, one-half bushel is generally sown, 

 although there is no doubt that from three pecks to one bushel would 

 give as good results, and if the quality and quantity of the straw was 

 taken into account, the value of the crop would be enhanced very 

 much. In New York and Canada from one to one and one-eighth 

 bushels per acre are generally sown. I question very much if one of 

 your members, who lately advised sowing two bushels per acre, knows 

 of any one who practices sowing so thickly in this country with good 

 results. In the old world, from two to three bushels are sown ; but 

 in this country, practical men scarcely ever exceed one and one-eighth, 

 although experiments with two and three bushels have been made ; 

 results unsatisfactory. Where flax is raised for scutching, it is best 



