BUCKWHEAT, RICE, FLAX, ETC. 87 



tates having the concaves set fairly close in order to separate all the seed 

 from the straw. The seed is small and flat and is but little broken in the 

 process of threshing. 



The threshed seed is generally placed in strong, closely woven bags 

 and securely tied. The seed, being small, flat and exceedingly smooth, will 

 run almost like water, and requires exceedingly tight bins for its storage 

 and very tight wagon boxes in case it is to be hauled unbagged. 



Yield and Value of Crop. — The yield of flax seed ranges from 8 to 20 

 bushels per acre. Since most of the flax is produced by extensive methods 

 and on new land, the average yield for the United States is about 9 bushels. 

 The price generally ranges from $1 to $1.50 per bushel. During the last 

 few years a scarcity of flax has caused a somewhat higher price. A bushel 

 of flax will produce about twenty pounds of crude linseed oil, and the 

 oil cake after the removal of the oil is worth from 1 to lj^ cents per 

 pound. The average annual production in the United States for ten 

 years ending 1911 was about 24,000,000 bushels, valued at approximately 

 $28,000,000. 



Utilization. — Flax is grown chiefly for its seed, from which is made 

 linseed oil, extensively used in the manufacture of paints. The meal, after 

 the extraction of the oil, finds a ready sale as a nitrogenous stock food, and 

 is extensively used as a concentrate for dairy cows. 



The straw is utilized in only a limited way. It makes fair roughage 

 for stock, although not as valuable as oat straw. In some localities the 

 straw is used in the manufacture of tow, which is used in making rough 

 cordage and twine. 



In the old world the plant is extensively used for the manufacture of 

 fiber. This necessitates pulling the plants by hand and requires special 

 facUities for treating the straw and separating the fiber. Labor is too 

 expensive in this country to enable American flax to compete with that of 

 the old world in this respect. Ground flax seed in small amounts is a 

 splendid feed for all kinds of stock. It acts as a tonic andhas a good 

 effect upon the digestive system. 



Diseases of Flax. — Flax is so seriously troubled with a disease 

 known as flax wilt that it necessitates the use of treated seed selected 

 from wilt-resistant plants. The formalin treatment described for wheat 

 serves equally well for the treatment of flax seed. Flax seed will 

 require only about one-half gallon of the solution to each bushel of seed. 

 It should be thoroughly stirred after sprinkling, covered with canvas 

 treated with formalin, and allowed to remain two or three hours and 

 then stirred and dried. After thoroughly dry it may be placed in bags 

 which have been treated with formalin to prevent the presence of wilt 

 spores. 



Since this disease may live in the soil for several years in the absence 

 of flax, it is necessary to practice long rotations in which flax will not be 

 grown more frequently than once in five to seven years, 



15 



