The Fargo forum and daily republican., 1910-04-02
Bolley'S Discovery Of the
Cause and Cure Of FIax-Wilt
One Of the MarvelS Of the Age
Finley Man Who Has Made Extensive Study Of the Subject
Pays FIatterng Tribute to the Dean Of Botany
at the North Dakota Agricultural College

/ believe that very few people realize
the importance of the discovery Of the
cause and cure for flax sick" soil,
which has been made by Prof. Henry L.
Bolley, dean of botany at the North
Dakota A. c." says Henry "A. Bemis of
Finley, N. D., in a communication TO
The Forum. Professor Bolley calls it
flax wilt" says Mr.. Bemis. Continu-
ing he says:
This disease has been found upon
investigation to be nothing new, but
only extended in it's area of destruc-
ton until thousands of acres the past
year were destroyed by.it. It is known
to have attacked fax as far back as
1851 In Asia, by the presence of the dis
ease found on preserved specimens of
fax, in Africa; in 1880; in Gina in 1886,
and In India in 1857.
Flax grows wild even now In Russia
and seed for the first cultivated plants
was doubtless gathered from wild fax
It's growth is mentioned previous to
the exodus of the Children of Israel
from the bondage of Egypt in connec-
ton with the record of a mighty hail
storm; and the fax and the barley
were smitten; for the barley was in
the ear and the flax was in bloom"
Next we find it mentioned as growing
i'm Palestine at the time this great army
of freed slaves had reached the border
of the Promised Land, in connection
with the hiding Of the spies by Rahaj.
''But she had brought them up to the
roof and hid them with the stalks of
flax which she had laid in order upon
the roof" This was centuries before
the birth of Christ, so we see its first
cultivation is very ancient.
AS to the purpose of its cultivation we
may Judge from the record in Proverbs:
tShe seeketh wool and fax and work
eth willingly with her hands" (This
was said of a worthy woman.)
Flax fibre is not only still used but used
by the ton. In Europe and the u. s..
according to J. l.. Watkins in Year
Book, department of agriculture, 1901,
page 1913, there were used 1,06S,000 tons
of wool and 1,544,000 tons of flax fibre.
And not to mention the gallons of lin
seed oil for which fax in America is
now principally grown, we see that
anything that cuts OFF the yield of oil
and fibre is an enemy Of mankind. Con-
versely the one who can destroy this
enemy, or limit IT'S field of operation,
must as certainly be considered man
kinds great benefactor.
For hundreds OF years fax has per-
sistently refused to grow successfully
year after year on the same soil, and
previous to the beginning of the pres
ent century nothing definite seems ever
to have been known concerning the
reason why. Various theories had been
advanced to explain this failure among
which it was thought that fax exhaust
ed the soil or poisoned the land. Pro-
fessor Lugger OF the Minnesota expert
ment station. It seems, had come the
nearest to it's solution, for he had con-
cluded 1t was disease" but adds:
IA cure for the disease does not seem
possible" It remained for Henry l..
Boiley, of the North Dakota experiment
station TO solve the mystery kept a
secret from the beginning Of all things.
Mr.. Bolley not only rightly conclud-
ed that it is a disease but found out
the cause of 1t. And by repeated ex
periments, discovered an effective
check to the spread of this disease.
Therefore, the world. (and especially
that part of it found In North Dako-
ta) should fittinly show appreciation
for this and other great services Mr..
3olley has rendered to the whole hu-
man race North Dakota should not
wait until death claims him and then
scatter flowers over his grave, but let
| him feel now that his work is being
appreciated. So far as the real benefit
to the people OF the worlu Is concerned,
Perry's discovery of the north pole
| (wonderfully interesting and spectac-
ular ais 1t certainly is) seems micro
scopic when compared with the value
| of the discovery of the cause and cure
OF rust and smut Of wheat and oats,
and rust and wilt Of flax. which were
made by Bolley; for, think OF the miI-
| lions during the flight of centuries who
will be better fed and clothed because
| the results of his discoveries.
when the government ait Washington
came to know that Professor Bolley had
made this great discovery Il sent him
TO Europe as colIaborator Of the bureau
OF plant industry. There In 1903 he
spent many months visiting various
countries and studying the conditions
under which fiay culture Ii carried on
and especially Investigating the SUBJ
| 1ect Of .fax sick SOIL A very careful-