The herald-advance. (Milbank, S.D.) 1890-1922, 1902-08-15

lege Explains the Premature
Rfpenfng of Flax.
We are receiving a good many letters
at the college nowadays asking for ex-
concerning what appears to
a premature ripening Of the fax
crop OF the state is the most beautiful
one that any man ever looked pom.
The state possesses thousands of acres
Of fax growing upon their new break
ing or On land which has only been
cropped a few years, ana perhaps lit
tie. II any Of it, eve previously had fax
crops upon 1t. This accounts for the
fact that the crop is fine. It is not
fine because Of any special care taken
by the persons who have sowed the
crop. I 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 1t a always been attacked by
. number Of parasitic fungi which live
in the soil and attack the roots Of the
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. I have seen 100 acres in one
field upon new breaking, at which the
plants are, at date OF his writing, in
full boil, but to all appearances the field
is dead ripe. In this case there was 80
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
Az 1t was introduced by the
seed Of comparatively a few plants
evenly distributed in the drill rows,
the rest Of the plants have been at
tackled In the o 20 go late they were
not killed until the plants there reached
maturity. In such plants there will be
seed, or IL there is a little. 1t will be
shriveled. scaly seed. Such scaly seed
viii produce the disease another year
Il sowed upon good land. The fields in
such plants are growing are now
ruined for the growth Of fax, at least
until a large number of years have in
tervened. When the disease Is once SO
introduced, all flax plants
will die before they reach a height Of
three OF four inches. It behooves the
farmers of this state to learn how to
Delect their seed to avoid this disease.
Go out into your own field on your
field. and II you can And an
r which II free from wilted plants,
have 1t saved for seed. Do not put It
Into an elevator where 1t will all get
mixed with diseased crops. !
Last year North Dakota produced
more 1axseed 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 rightfully
proud of the soil Of the state, which
produce more wheat than any other
state In the Union. Of q better quality
than the wheat Of any other state, and
1T he same time produce wonderful
crops OF flax. I 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
On their land, and that there Is scarcely
my farmer In the state who has sowed
dax two Or more times upon the same
piece Of ground. who cannot 90 into
his dax field this year. q year which
has given the best possible conditions
For the growth Of max, and there ind
spots Of considerable area, in which all
the max plants in the center OF the
Dpot die early. while around the mar
gin Of the spst which IL day by day
larger. plants are dying and
will continue to die until the crop is
They will die az If by will,
md dry up. and their place IL taken
BY pigeon grass and other weeds. This
the disease which we have called fax
Wilt. It 10 due to q fungus which is not
native to U virgin soil. but which 10
introduced by way Of the seed.
When nce IN the ground 1t has abil-
lty to keep spreading through the soil
and the sell becomes fax sick, and no
able to produce q flax crop to
maturity. II you do not know how to
escape sewing this fungus into your
land, and would like to be among those
~ IuSE0 VI tu0 BSoVO VIM WOuAU uclp 10
keep North Dakota the greatest max
area In the world, write to
the agricultural college, and We will
be able to give yeu q number Of def
mite directions which Will AID you. We
DO not like to be prophets Of evil. In fact
40 not consider ourselves such. We
from our experiments that Q
proper rotation Of crops and . proper
method Of selecting and handling max
seed will make It possible for farm
err In this rsgisn to continue raising
OAK just In the same sense that they
would continue raising wheat. AZ IL
was with wheat smut and oat smut.
We Will have to night this max disease.
and It 10 . harder one to combat be-
cause. when It gets int the soil 1t stays
there.-H. L. Boilsy. Agricultural Col
lege.
Land once Business.
The July filings at the land office Il
Pierre are not quite up to the standard
OF earlier months Of the year, and
those for August probably will be light
harvest win cut down the number o.