38 
The Colorado Experiment Station 
flax covers the land very thinly, it has been mostly a new land 
crop, because weeds bother very slightly on new land or breaking. 
On old land, weeds bother the flax crop to a considerable extent, 
unless the seed bed has been prepared by deep plowing. 
The lack of a stable market has been the greatest drawback 
to the growing of flax as an auxiliary cash crop. Prices have been 
unusually good for a year or so, but frequently when the acreage 
is high, prices have been too low to be profitable. In addition 
to the northeastern part of the State, flax is adapted to growth in 
most of the foothills and intermountain regions. In such regions, 
however, the difficulty of marketing unless the seed is fed, makes 
it an undesirable crop. 
Preparation of New Land .—Flax has always been considered 
a new-land crop. Experiments have conclusively shown, how¬ 
ever, that the advantage of new lands is one of freedom from 
weeds. In breaking up new lands, if a heavy sod covers the soil, 
the sod should be broken from 2y 2 to - 3^4 inches deep. The fur¬ 
row slice should be turned over as flatly as possible and rolled 
flat with a heavy roller or weighted disk, immediately after the 
breaking plow. Best results are obtained by plowing very early 
in the spring. Rolled sod can usually be made into a proper new- 
land seed bed by harrowing. Occasionally light disking with the 
disk set nearly straight, is necessary. Care should be taken to 
leave the sod smooth and tightly rolled down if good results are 
to be obtained. If plowing may be done a long time previous to 
seeding, the first plowing may be deep. Time and the disk har¬ 
row will put this deep plowing in proper shape for planting. 
Preparation for Old Land .—The most important thing in pre¬ 
paring old land for flax is to have it free from weeds. Weeds 
cause more old-land crop failures than any other one thing. Deep 
plowing, if done early enough, will usually submerge the weed 
seeds so deeply that weeds will not bother that year. Clean corn 
stubble can be made into an almost perfect seed bed by disking 
and harrowing. Flax should be seeded with a press drill, using 
from 15 to 25 pounds of seed to the acre. 
Time to Plant .—Flax matures in a short season, but it grows 
best in the cool of the season. Consequently, most of the flax 
should be seeded from April 10th to May 15th. Only good, bright, 
clean seed, treated with formaldehyde in the same manner that 
wheat is treated for smut should be used. Flax, owing to the dan¬ 
ger from flax wilt, should never be grown more than one year at 
a time on the same land. At least three or four other crops in the 
rotation should be grown before it is again put upon the same 
tract. 
