CEREAL EXPERIMENTS AT JUDITH BASIN SUBSTATION. 35 
In 1911, 14 varieties were grown in twentieth-acre plats. The land 
used had been cropped to barley in 1909 and 1910. It was spring 
plowed in 1911 and the seed bed was in good tilth when the varieties 
were seeded on May 15. The dry weather in July caused the flax to 
begin to ripen early and the heavy rains in August started a second 
growth. This made the flax late in maturing and reduced the 
yields. 
In 1912, 17 varieties were grown. These were seeded on May 14 
in twentieth-acre plats on land that had been cropped to winter 
wheat the year before. Flax was the only spring grain that pro- 
duced any seed in 1912, the others being destroyed by hail. The 
Fig. 15— Varietal test plats of flax at the Judith Basin substation, 1915. (From a photograph lent by 
the Office of Exhibits, U. S. Department of Agriculture.) 
hail came when the flax was in full bloom. While it undoubtedly 
reduced the yields, the plants made a second growth and produced 
a fairly good crop. In 1913 the flax was grown in tenth-acre plats 
on fallow ground. The yields that year were quite satisfactory. 
In 1914 and 1915 the flax varieties were grown on fallow ground in 
replicated fiftieth-acre plats. A view of the varietal test plats in 
1915 is shown in figure 15. 
The yields in 1914 were reduced by a disease known as canker. 
This disease attacks the young plant just above the cotyledons and 
apparently stops its growth until it puts out basal branches below 
the injured part. The growth is then normal, but the time required 
to produce these branches makes the plants late in maturing. The 
seed is produced on these branches, which take the place of the 
central stem. 
