12 
BULLETIN 1315, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
reducing weed growth by the use of a deep-running cultivator, such 
as the duck-foot, before seeding. The control of weeds in the early 
stages of growth seems to be one of the principal factors upon which 
the successful production of flax depends. 
Flax is ordinarily grown as a sod crop, but it has not been tried on 
sod in these experiments. Farm experience with flax on prairie sod 
on the whole has been unsatisfactory in this region. The trouble on 
sod is the lack of sufficient water rather than the competition of 
weeds. The native grasses keep the water in the soil reduced to a 
small quantity. Breaking is generally late, there is little water 
already in the soil, and the precipitation during the season after 
breaking is not sufficient to meet the needs of the crop. The chances 
of success are greatly enhanced when the breaking is done early, so 
that the spring precipitation is conserved. 
Table 6. 
Yields of flax grown by different methods at the Archer Field Station 
from 1914 to 1923, inclusive 
Plats 
aver- 
aged 
Yields per acre 
(bushels) 
Treatment and previous 
crop 
1914 
1915 
1916 
1917 
1918 
1919 
1920 
1921 
1922 
1923 
Aver- 
age, 
1915 
to 
1923 
Fall plowed: 
1 
1 
~~4.~5~ 
11.1 
12.7 


7.2 
3.6 
2.4 
.9 




1.9 
.8 
0.9 

1.6 
2.8 
Flax 
Total or average 
2 
4.5 
11.9 

5.4 
1.7 


1.4 
.5 
1.6 
12.7 
Spring plowed: 
Corn 
2 
1 
1 
1 
1 
~~4.T 
11.3 
15.4 
15.0 
11.1 
8.6 




1.8 
8.0 
9.3 
8.6 
7.1 
3.7 
3.7 
1.7 
4.2 
2.3 
.9 










3.4 
2.7 
4.6 
.6 
1.3 
.5 



.2 
2.8 


3.3 
Oats 
3.2 
Wheat 
3.6 
Flax 
Flax 2 . . 
Total or average 
6 
4.4 
12.1 
.3 
7.5 
2.8 


2.7 
.2 
1.4 
•3.1 
Disked: Corn.. 
Subsoiled: Flax. . 
2 
1 
1 
1 
~~3.~6~ 
3.3 
6.3 
11.9 
12.0 
8.6 
13.9 




10.1 
3.4 

8.0 
5.7 
.4 
.4 
1.1 








4.1 
.2 
.4 
1.7 
.4 
.2 

1.6 
2.2 
3.8 
Listed: Flax 
Fallowed 
. I.. .. 
Average of all 13 
plats 3 
4.3 
11.9 
.1 
6.7 
2.5 


2.2 
.3 
1.6 
1 3.0 
1 10-year averages, 1914 to 1923, inclusive. 2 In 3-row strips, intertilled. 3 Only 5 plats in 1914 and 7 in 1923 
RESULTS WITH CORN 
The corn acreage in Wyoming increased from 11,000 acres in 1910 4 
to 150,000 acres in 1923. 5 During the later years the increase was 
very marked. A definite method of culture has not yet been devel- 
oped. It is beginning to be recognized that corn is relatively a safe 
crop and that small grams sown upon disked corn ground produce 
well. The experimental data already presented show that for the 
most economical production small grains must be seeded upon disked 
cornland. The vital question to agriculture in this region, then, is 
the economical production of corn. In the consideration of this 
4 U. S. Department of Agriculture. Bureau of Statistics. Statistics of the principal crops. In U. S. 
Dept. Agr. Yearbook, 1912, p. 560. 1913. 
s Statistics of important crops by States, 1921-1923. Corn. In Weather, Crops, and Markets, 
v. 4, p. 670. 1923. 
