FLAX 



FLAX 



295 



These figures represent the cost when flax is 

 grown on stubble land. When it is grown on new 

 breaking, the cost is slightly higher. 



Choice of soil. — The flax, having a delicate and 

 relatively small root system, and growing to ma- 

 • turity in so short a time, demands a soil that is 

 rich in soluble organic matter and in moisture. 

 The character of the soil does not seem to be of so 

 much importance. Good crops have been produced 

 on very sandy soil, but the straw in such cases is 

 very short. On the other hand, the larger crops 

 are grown on the heavier clay soils, but in this 

 case at the expense of 

 the quality of the fiber. 

 Experiments have been 

 conducted in various states 

 on many types of soil, and 

 the consensus of opinion 

 seems to be that the heavier 

 lands 'give better results, but 

 that more seems to depend on 

 the preparation before seeding 

 than on the type of soils. In 

 short, experience teaches that flax 

 may be grown on a. variety of soils, 

 but for the best results a moist, deep, 

 friable loam or clay loam is prefer- 

 able. In the great flax-growing areas 

 of the Northwest, the virgin upland- 

 prairie homestead farms are plowed 

 and seeded to flax without regard to 

 the soil. In the older sections, flax is 

 used as a reclamation crop to reduce the 

 low land to arable fields. These low-lying 

 pieces (prairie sloughs) vary in size from 

 one to several acres, and originally were 

 too wet for cropping, but as the country be- 

 came older, the water gradually disappeared 

 so as to render them useful for pasture and 

 finally dry enough to plow. The farmers, eager 

 for more acres on which to grow grain, have 

 reclaimed the border of these sloughs from 

 year to year, and are thus maintaining the an- 

 nual flax area and getting their farms into 

 form and condition for systematic crop rota- 

 tion. Thus, flax has been valuable in subduing 

 the virgin sod. On the older and heavier lands 

 it has a tendency to improve the physical condi- 

 tion of the soil. 



Preparing the soil. — This feature in the flax 

 industry receives too little attention. A com- 

 mon practice in the western states is to break 

 the sod in July or August and " back-set " later in 

 the fall, but more often the back-setting is not 

 done. The following spring the soil is harrowed 

 (or disked if the farmer possesses a disk) and 

 seeded. It is worthy of note in this connection that 

 on the new prairie upland sod thus treated, the 

 yield, often as high as thirty bushels per acre, is 

 suflicient to pay the price of the land. It is gener- 

 ally conceded, however, that flax needs a better 

 prepared soil, and, as the country grows older, the 

 preparation of the seed-bed receives more and more 

 attention. No definite rules can be laid down that 

 would be suitable for all types of soil, and in all 



climates, but a few general principles must always 

 be observed : 



(1) The land should be plowed deep in the fall 

 previous to the spring in which the seed is to be 

 sown. If the land is sod, five inches will be suffi- 

 cient, but if it is old land, it should be stirred six 

 to eight inches deep. 



(2) Heavy clay soils should be worked deeper 

 « , yP than the lighter loam 

 ^uJ^ or sandy soils. 



(3) Generally it is 

 not advisable to har- 

 row in the fall. 



(4) In the spring, the 

 heaviest of soils should 

 be plowed again, then 



disked and 

 harrowed un- 

 til smooth and 

 firm. The lighter 

 soil should be 

 disked as early as 

 it is suificiently dry 

 to permit of working, 

 then harrowed and pul- 

 verized fine. 

 (5) Flax should not be seeded 

 on land that is wet, lumpy or 

 weedy. 

 Manuring. — It is a waste of 

 time to sow flax on impoverished 

 land. The returns will not repay 

 the cost of production and the 

 seed, to say nothing of the rental 

 value of the land. Flax is com- 

 monly regarded as an exhausting 

 crop, but it is relatively no more 

 exhausting of soil fertility than other grain crops. 

 The root systems of flax plants are not large 

 when compared with other grains, as wheat and 

 oats. Flax may be considered, therefore, as a deli- 

 cate feeder. This means that soil on which flax 

 is to be grown must be rich in soluble organic 

 matter, or be supplied with the necessary ele- 

 ments of plant-growth. 



In this country very little attention is given 

 to the use of manures and commercial fertilizers 

 for flax. It is doubtful whether the latter are 

 necessary, if the farmers use proper systems of 

 crop rotation, and by the use of farm manures 

 and waste products maintain the soil fertility. 

 In the use of manures, it is always preferable to 

 have them in a fine or composted condition, espe- 

 cially on the lighter soils. It is not advisable to 

 apply the manure the same year that the seed is 

 sown, as it causes an uneven crop, a tendency to- 

 ward coarseness of the fiber, and frequently light 

 seed. Aside from this, it brings more or less weed 

 seed to the soil. A few of the states report the 

 use of fertilizers, such as nitrate of soda, muriate 

 of potash, dried blood, dissolved bone-black, dried, 

 fish and various barnyard manures, but no authen- 

 tic results have yet been recorded. 



The eastern states, as a rule, practice methods 

 of manuring, while the western country gives little 



