INFLUENCE ON LINSEED OIL OF SOURCE OF FLAX, ETC. 3 
Table I. — Location, soil, and climatic conditions of the seven stations where flax experi- 
ments were made during the seasons of 1914 and 191.5. 
[Data from the records of the Biophysical Laboratory of the Bureau of Plant Industry.] 
Station. 
Ifoccasin, Mont 
Dickinson, N. Dak.. 
Handan, N. Dak... 
Jewell, S. Dak 
Highmore, S. Dak. . 
Archer, Wyo 
Lati- 
tude 
N. 
47 00 
-17 00 
-17 00 
44 35 
44 30 
41 42 
Burns, Ores i 43 00 
Longi- Alti- 
tude tudein 
W. feet. 
109 45 
103 00 
101 00 
103 26 
99 20 
104 15 
119 00 
4,300 
2,453 
1,750 
2,950 
1,SG0 
6,027 
4,100 
Foil. 
Dark clay loam; gravel sub- < ]a]l 
cnil 1 1 iyiD 
Year. 
si.il 
Sandy to heavy clay loam. 
1914 
1915 
1914 
Sandy loam j ]gl5 
Pierre clay gumbo 
do 
Sandy loam; some grave] 
Variable silt loam 
1914 
1915 
1914 
1915 
1914 
1915 
1914 
1915 
Precipi- 
tation 
for 5 
months, 
April to 
August. 
Inches. 
10. 03 
11.98 
L8.84 
11.77 
19.04 
19.52 
7.86 
15.82 
13.06 
17.18 
8.56 
12.69 
4.27 
2.90 
Evapo- 
ration 
for 5 
months, 
A pril to 
August. 
Inches. 
27. 173 
25. 059 
26. 975 
21.06 
28. 894 
24. 969 
30. 917 
22. 501 
35. 456 
34. 893 
1 
The soil at the different stations varies from a silt loam at Burns, 
to a clay gumbo at Highmore and Newell. The remaining stations 
possess sandy or clay-loam soils. The total precipitation during the 
growing months at the different stations varied considerably during 
the two seasons. The evaporation shows wide differences also. 
The variation in location, soil, and climate doubtless affected the 
growth and development of the flax plants and therefore also affected 
the formation and development of the fatty oil in the seeds. 
FACTORS WHICH INFLUENCE THE COMPOSITION OF THE OIL. 
Conditions of soil ^ and climate are important factors influencing 
the growth of a plant, and they act jointly in affecting the content 
and composition of the fatty oil in the plant. The availability of 
the fertilizer ingredients of soils is due to a large extent to the amount 
of moisture present, which in turn is dependent upon certain other 
conditions, such as heat, light, humidity, and altitude. Whether 
the soil is light or heavy in texture is important in making its con- 
stituents available to the plant. Likewise, the retention of moisture 
by some soils and the lack of retention by others naturally affect 
the growth and development of the plant and the formation of oil 
in the plant. Any cause which tends to modify the growth or 
nutrition of a plant will have a material effect upon the formation 
of the fat in the seed of the plant. Woods 1 states that the texture 
and structure of the soil affects decidedly the availability to the 
1 Woods, A. F. 
I for 1901. p. 157. 
The relation of nutrition to the health of plants. In Yearbook, U. S. Dept. of Agr. 
