The pioneer press. (Miller, Hand County, S.D.) 1893-190?, 1902-08-14
ABOUT FLAX.
Prof. Boiley of the Agricultural Cell
lege Explains the Premature
Ripening of Flax.

at the college nowadays asking for ex-
plantations concerning what appears to
be a premature ripening Of the flax
crop of the state is the most beautiful
one that any man ever looked upon.
The state possesses thousands OF acres
Of fax growing upon their new break
ing or on land which has only been
cropped few years, and perhaps lit
tie, IL any Of IT, ever previously had fax
crops upon It. This accounts for the
fact that the crop is fine. II is not
fine because of any special care taken
by the persons who have sowed the
crop. l am writing this article now
to call attention to all such persons
that fax always has been a new land
crop. We have found out at the college
that the reason for this lies In the fact
that II has always been attacked by
a number of parasitic fungi which live
In the soil and attack the roots OF the
plants. These fungi get into the soil
by being seeded there with the seed.
When once they are there they stay
there permanently.
| The cases OF premature ripening re-
ferred to are, however, this year quite
numerous. / have seen 100 acres in one
field upon new breaking, at which the
plants are, at date of this writing, in
full boil, but to all appearances the field
is dead ripe. In this case there was SO
much of the fungus sowed with the
poor, scaly type of seed that practically
every plant was attacked by the wilt
disease the first year, the fungus being
able to spread through the soil rapidly
because OF the abundant rainfall and
moisture. AS IL was introduced by the
seed of comparatively a few plants
evenly distributed i'm the drill rows,
the rest Of the plants have been at
tackled in the root so late they were
not killed until the plants there reached
maturity. In such plants there will be
no seed, or If there is little. 1t will be
shriveled, scaly seed. Such scaly seed
will produce the disease another year
| IL sowed upon good land. The fields in
which such plants are growing are now
| ruined for the growth of flax, at least
until large number OF years have in
! terVened. When the disease is once so
| thoroughly introduced, all fax plants
will die before they reach a height of
three of four inches. 1t behooves the
farmers of this state to learn how to
| select their seed to avoid this disease.
Go out into your own field on your
neighbours field, and II you can find an
area which Is free from wilted plants.
have II saved for seed. Do not put II
into an elevator where II will all get
\ mixed with diseased crops
Last year North Dakota produced
more fiaxseed than all other states in
the Union combined. This year, II con-
ditions are favorable from this date
until close of threshing time, her yield
/ will almost be double that of any pre-
vious year. Our farmers are rightfulIy
proud Of the soil OF the state, which
can produce more wheat than any other
state in the Union, of a better quality
than the wheat of any other state, and
at the same time produce wonderful
crops of flax. / wish at this time, how
ever, to call attention to the fact that
there are some farmers in the state who
are having difficulty to raise any fax
J on their land, and that there is scarcely
any farmer In the state who has sowed
| flax two or more times upon the came
piece of ground, who cannot go into
his fax field this year, year which
has given the best possible conditions
| for the growth of fax, and there find
spots of considerable area, in which all
| the fax plants in the center of the
spot die early, while around the mar
gin of the spot which Is day by day
, becoming larger, plants are dying and
! will continue to die until the crop is
mature. They will die as IL by will,
and dry up, and their place is taken
by pigeon grass and other weeds. This
| is the disease which we have called FAX
wilt. 1t is due to fungus which is not
native to our virgin soil. but which is
introduced by way Of the seed.
When once in the ground it has abil-
ity to keep spreading through the soil
and the soil becomes fax sick, and no
longer able to produce a flax crop to
maturity. II you do not know how to
escape sowing this fungus into your
land, and would like to be amsng those
farmers OF the state who would help to
keep North Dakota the greatest flax
producing area in the world, write 10
the agricultural college, and we will
be able to give you a number of def
mite directions which will aid you. We
do not like to be prophets OF evil, in fact
do not consider ourselves such. We
believe from our experiments that a
proper rotation of crops and a proper
method of selecting and handling max
seed will make 1t possible for farm
ers in this region to continue raising
flax just in the same sense that they
would continue raising wheat AS it
was with wheat smut and oat smut,
we will have to fight this fax disease.
and 1t is harder one to combat be-
cause. when IL gets into the soil II stays
there.-H. L. Boiley. Agricultural Col
lsge.