28 BULLETIN 883, U, S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
commercial tests. Under northwestern conditions a large seed is pro- 
duced, but the oil content is not high. The varieties are all as short 
or shorter than the Abyssinian strains, but with, a coarser stem, 
which produces normally about four basal branches. The yields 
recorded are slightly to materially poorer than those of the Abyssinian 
varieties. Blue-flowered brown-seeded and white-flowered golden- 
seeded varieties have both been obtained from India and are included 
in the data here reported. Hoshangabad (C. I. No. 40), a white- 
flowered golden-seeded strain, produces seed of low viability, and it 
is seldom, if ever, that a good stand is obtained. This variety is 
practically identical with Burbank flax, recently advertised as a flax 
with wonderful possibilities and sold in small quantities at exorbitant 
prices. In 1915 the few plants that were produced were seriously 
Fig. 3.— Indian (C. I. No. 20) and Abyssinian (C. I. No. 38) flax varieties grown in plat experiments 
at the Northern Great Plains Field Station, Mandan, N. Dak., in 1915. Note the short growth of 
these varieties as compared with the Russian flax at the extreme left. 
injured by flax rust, and the general performance of this variety has 
always been inferior to that of the other Indian varieties. None are 
adapted to our northern conditions. 
10. Egyptian. — The two varieties listed in the Egyptian group are 
included simply because they are so distinct from any other form 
noted. The plants are short, with slender unbranched stems. Few 
bolls are produced per plant, and these capsules are so firm that much 
force is required to crush them in sheUing the seed. Under ordinary 
conditions of thrashing, the bolls readily fall from the pedicels but 
remain intact unthrashed. The vegetative growth is so distinct that 
these varieties could probably be classed as a separate species. The 
seeds are not small but are very flat, of a characteristic drab color, 
and have a very low oil content. These varieties are not suited in 
any way to northwestern conditions. 
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