Seeding practices.—Flax is planted in the spring after all danger from frost is past. As it requires only eighty-five to one hundred days for maturing, the planting is seldom done before May 10 in the Middle Northwest. In some of the new sections on low spots where water stands on the surface in the early spring, the planting season is materially lengthened, seeding often being done as late as July 1. It is unsafe, however, to sow flax later than June 15 in the great northwest flax section. Early seed ing, Slay 10 to 20, always gives the best results, as the plants get well rooted and strong before the hot, dry summer weather comes.
From an account given in Report No. 10 of the United States Office of Fiber Investigation, the fol lowing dates for sowing and harvesting in the various states are taken : The depth to plant varies somewhat with the soil and season. On the heavier, wet soils the seed should be planted shallower than on the lighter soils. In the ordinary flax should be planted not deeper than one and one-half inches.
The quantity of seed used by the American farmer varies from two to six pecks per acre. For the production of seed, the Minnesota Experiment Sta tion has found that for Minnesota conditions two pecks most satisfactory results, but the farm ers of the Northwest usually sow a little more. For fiber, the quantity sown is never less than four pecks per acre, six pecks being generally considered best.
If the flax is grown for seed, it is at the ex pense of the quantity and quality of fiber, and conversely. The difference is occasioned by the thickness of the seeding. The quantity of seed pro duced depends on the number of branches that bear the seed-bolls. By sowing two to three pecks per acre, the plants are sufficiently far apart to permit of reasonable branching. Under such conditions, the straw grows about thirty inches long. When six pecks per acre are seeded, the plants are very close together, thus preventing the branching habit and forcing a taller and finer growth.
At present, there are but two general methods of sowing, viz., with the so-called grain drill and with the ordinary broadcast seeder. With the former, the seeds are planted in parallel rows six to eight inches apart. All seeds are placed at an even depth and in a compact seed - bed. This method is pre ferred for seed production, as the plants have a better chance to branch and to form seed - bolls. In broadcasting, the seeds are scat tered promiscu ously over the ground and cov ered by the gangs of cultivating teeth following the seed spouts. By this method, a trifle more seed is needed per acre.
For fiber purposes, the broadcast method is said to produce a better and more even quality. Any
conditions which stimulate branching or coarseness are adverse to the making of a long, fine fiber.
The drill rows permit of an uneven crowding which brings about an uneven growth of the plants (Fig.
407).
Place in flax is not a gross feeder and does not yield profitable returns if planted on the same land year after year, it is not exceptionally "hard " on the soil. It requires an abundance of organic matter in the soil, and for this reason follows corn (for which barnyard ma nure has been applied), a clover sod, or a grass ley to good advantage. Since flax does not do well on any one field oftener than once in six or seven years, it works best into long-course rotations. A suggested rotation of this kind is as follows : First year, corn ; second year, oats or barley, or both ; third year, wheat (seeded to grass or clover) ; fourth year, meadow ; fifth and sixth years, pas ture or meadow as desired ; sixth or seventh year (as the case may be), flax is planted. It is often suggested to plant flax once in two cycles of a short-course rotation. In such a case it would come every other year, or three or four years in succession in every alternate cycle of the rota tion ; thus, in a four-year rotation, flax would appear on the same field once in eight years : average American farmer recog nizes but two general varieties of flax,—the White Blossom Dutch and the Russian Riga. The latter is generally used and is considered best. The former has been tested repeatedly at the Minnesota and North Dakota Experiment Stations, but no stock has yet been found to surpass the Riga in seed pro duction. At Yale, Michigan, and at Corvallis, Ore gon, the growers for the most part have followed the example of the farmers of Great Britain, Hol land and Belgium, and imported new seed from Russia (and some from Holland) every two or three years. It is reported that the home-grown seed does not produce so fine a grade of fiber as the imported seed. It is also said that the White Blos som Dutch variety loses its white blossom char acter in a few years after importation. In this connection, it is worthy of note that the new flax (Minn. No. 25), introduced in 1905 by the Minne sota Experiment Station to the farmers of Minne sota, came to the Station in 1891 as a white blos som variety. It now has a blue blossom. If such changes take place in color characters, it is not unreasonable to suppose that the character of the fiber may also be affected by the change. How ever, the quality of the fiber of home-grown flax is being improved by breeding. Experts state that the low grade of fiber of American flax is due to the method of sowing more than to the seed.