27 
HINTS ON RAISING FARM CROPS 
Even on new land, the extra work involved 
usually pays for itself in the increased yield. 
Flax is a crop that should be ripe at the 
same time. For this reason, it is advisable 
to take particular pains with the selection of 
th.e seed. The seed should be run through a 
fanning mill so that all foreign matter, and 
light, immature seed may be discarded. If 
nothing but uniform seed is sown, and planted 
at a uniform depth, then the plants should all 
mature at the same time. In order to prevent 
a disease known as the flax wilt, the for¬ 
maldehyde treatment should be applied, which 
was described under wheat. 
Half a bushel, or better, is the usual rate 
of seeding flax to the acre. This rate of seed¬ 
ing, while probably appearing to be a small 
amount, will produce best results, as it will 
encourage the flax to branch out and produce 
a heavier yield of seed than if a larger quan¬ 
tity were sown. The seed should be sown with 
a grain drill, covering the seed about one inch 
in depth. If, however, the seed is sown for 
fiber instead of the flax seed, then from one 
to two bushels should be sown per acre. 
In this country, where flax is largely raised 
for its seed, the crop is harvested as has al¬ 
ready been described for the various grains. 
For fiber flax, an entirely different process is 
used, which, however, we shall not take the 
space here to explain. 
One ,of the minor grain crops is buckwheat. 
This grain is used largely in the manufacture 
of pancake flour, although it makes very good 
