The pioneer express. [volume] (Pembina, Dakota [N.D.]) 1883-1928, 1903-09-18

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Professor alsnns Finds thss Disease.
vsry Prevassnt In csss County
# sounds ! Warning. !. ~ Ssis
Thos. +. Manns, assistant III the de-
|spartment Of botany atl the North Da-
kdta Agricultural Cdilege The past
two weeks / have taken several trips
Into the country, covering practically
|.ahe whole Of southern Cass county, In
order to- learn Of the distribution Of
max wilt and the damage it is doing.
= find the disease is somewhat gen.
eral in it's distribution over this area,
and without doubt the valley district
Fin general Is the slime. While in some
localities It has hardly q foothold, in
in others 1t is.doing great amount Of
damage. In the locality around and
north OF Wild Rice, / find that practi-
cally every field is diseased, and in
one or two fields just across the Wild
Rice river north Of Wild Rice, esti-
mate the loss from this disease from
40 to 60 per cent. However, it was
not in this vicinity where found the
worst diseased fields. One and one
half miles southwest of Buffalo, came
across a field where the damage runs
from 80 per cent to total. In fact the
damage is SO great that the field has
practically grown up to weeds. The
vicinity south and southwest of Buff
falO appears to have the disease to an
alarming extent. In other vicinities,
viz: Hickson, Norman, Kindred and
Davenport, find the disease IS very
scarce. However it needs only few
years of carelessncss in sowing dis
eased and untreated seed to thor
oughly disease these areas. Hence
would caution all farmers in the SOW
ing of untreated seed.
On these trips have spoken to a
number of farmers concerning fax
raising, wilt, etc., md find not few
of the farmers who practice sowing
flax two or more years successfully on
the same piece of ground. One man,
learned had rails ed fax four years
successfully on tle same piece OF
land. He was, however, blowing up
failure. 1t takes only four or five
years of sowing of diseased seed until
land becomes thoroughly diseased, and
after being once in such condition, it
means six, eight or even ten years of
careful cropping with the different
grains and hay crops before the lands
can again be put to fax. From what
we have larned of flax growing in our
eastern aud central states, we attrib-
ute the appropriateness of the crop in
those states to this same disease. So
it is better to adopt the old adage, IAN
ounce of prevention is worth a pound
of cure"
To all who are not familiar with this
disease and it's disastrous results on
the fax production, will say that
the station here has two bulletins on
the subject, No. SO and IS, both of
which are mailed free to all farmers
who care to send in requests for them.
It might be of interest to the farm
ers of Cass county, and also to the
farmers of the state, to. learn that Pro-
fessor Bolley is in Russia at present,
sent by the general government, pur-
posely to investigate in older fax coun-
tries and to learn what it's continued
effects are. will say further that he
has sent in to me from time to time
samples of wilted flax killed by this
disease, from different localities in
Europe, where it is their greatest
drawback to the flax industry.
The treatment of fax seed by the
formalin method has been carried out
successfully by large number Of
farmers the past season, and the COM
ing season will see great increase in
the treatment of fax seed. The idea
of treatment is to prevent the distri-
button of the disease to fields which
are not already infected.
One thing, however, must be borne
in mind by farmers, and it is this:
That land once diseased until re-
claimed will produce disease in the
cleanest seed, and the only thing
which can be done as far as we know
at present with such land is to keep
flax of from it until the disease iss
worked out by other cropping. A
word of interest, however, might he
said here. This department is breed
ing train of fax which is immune to
the flax wilt disease, and it will be
only few years before we will have
this seed for distribution. The prac-
tical value Of this is, however, yet to
be learned, and the thing for the farm
ers to do in the meantime is to treat
their fax seed and thus prevent fur
Their distribution of this disastrous dis
ease to the fax crop.