INFLUENCE ON LINSEED OIL OF SOURCE OF FLAX, ETC. 3 



. I hi 

 Table I. — Location, soil, and climatic conditions of the seven stations where/lax experi- 

 ments were made during the seasons of 1914 and 1915. 



[Data from the records of the Biophysical Laboratory of the Bureau of Plant Industry.] 



Station. 



Lati- 

 tude 



N. 



Longi- 

 tude 

 W. 



Alti- 

 tude in 

 feet. 



a / 



O I 





47 00 



109 45 



4,300 



47 00 



103 00 



2,453 



47 00 



101 00 



1,750 



44 35 



103 26 



2,950 



44 30 



99 20 



1,890 



41 42 



104 15 



6,027 



43 00 



119 00 



4,100 



Soil. 



Year. 



Precipi- 

 tation 

 for 5 



months, 

 April to 

 August. 



1914 

 1915 



Inches. 

 10.03 

 11.98 



1914 

 1915 



18.84 

 14.77 



1914 

 1915 



19.04 

 19.52 



1914 

 1915 



7.86 

 15.82 



1914 

 1915 



13.06 

 17.18 



1914 

 1915 



8.56 

 12.69 



1914 

 1915 



4.27 

 2.90 



Evapo- 

 ration 

 for 5 

 months, 

 April to 

 August. 



Moccasin, Mont.... 

 Dickinson, N. Dak 

 Mandan, N. Dak.. 

 Newell, S. Dak.... 

 Highmore, S. Dak 



Archer, Wyo 



Burns, Oreg 



Dark clay loam; gravel sub- 

 soil. 



Sandy to heavy clay loam... 1 -! 



Sandy loam 



Pierre clay gumbo 



do 



Sandy loam; some gravel.. 

 Variable silt loam 



Inches. 

 27. 173 

 25.059 



26.975 

 21.06 



28. 894 

 24. 969 



30. 917 

 22.501 



25.356 



35. 456 

 34. 893 



The soil at the different stations varies from a silt loam at Burns, 

 to a clay gumbo at Highmore and Newell. The remaining stations 

 possess sandy or clay-loam soils. The total precipitation during the 

 growing months at the different stations varied considerably during 

 the two seasons. The evaporation shows wide differences also. 



The variation in location, soil, and climate doubtless affected the 

 growth and development of the flax plants and therefore also affected 

 the formation and development of the fatty oil in the seeds. 



FACTORS WHICH INFLUENCE THE COMPOSITION OF THE OIL. 



Conditions of soil and climate are important factors influencing 

 the growth of a plant, and they act jointly in affecting the content 

 and composition of the fatty oil in the plant. The availability of 

 the fertilizer ingredients of soils is due to a large extent to the amount 

 of moisture present, which in turn is dependent upon certain other 

 conditions, such as heat, light, humidity, and altitude. Whether 

 the soil is light or heavy in texture is important in making its con- 

 stituents available to the plant. Likewise, the retention of moisture 

 by some soils and the lack of retention by others naturally affect 

 the growth and development of the plant and the formation of oil 

 in the plant. Any cause which tends to modify the growth or 

 nutrition of a plant will have a material effect upon the formation 

 of the fat in the seed of the plant. Woods 1 states that the texture 

 and structure of the soil affects decidedly the availability to the 



1 Woods, A. F. The relation of nutrition to the health of plants. In Yearbook, U. S. Dept. of Agr., 

 for 1901, p. 157. 



