SOILS FOR FLAX 



245 



Table XIIL Average annual acreage, production, and farm value 

 of the flax crop oj the United States and of the three leading states 

 for the ten years from 1902 to 1911, inclusive. 



GROWING THE CROP 



301. Soils Adapted to Flax. In America, flax is grown 

 almost entirely in newly settled districts, and is quite gener- 

 ally the first crop sown after the breaking of prairie sod. 

 There are two reasons for this practice. One is that flax 

 grows better than almost any other crop on tough sod and 

 it is effective in subduing new land; the other is that when 

 flax is grown for several years in any section, the land 

 becomes "flax sick" and fails to produce a profitable crop. 

 The condition known as flax sickness is explained elsewhere 

 (Sec. 309). The crop grows best in a rather cool climate 

 and on soils that are not too heavy. Sandy loams are better 

 adapted to flax than are clay loams or heavy clays. The 

 idea is very common among farmers that flax is "hard on the 

 land," but the failure of the crop when it is grown for several 

 successive years on the same field is due more to diseases 

 than to the removal of soil fertility. The general practice 

 of growing flax only on new land makes the use of fertilizers 

 and manures practically unnecessary. 



302. Preparation of the Land. The usual method of 

 preparing sod land for flax is to flat break it in the fall or early 

 in the spring, running the plow just deep enough to turn the 



