The Ronan pioneer. [volume] (Ronan, Mont.) 1910-1970, 1911-06-16
Flax on Dry Land.
BY n. F, Patterson, Montana
Agricultural College.

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J. L.. st. Peter, Mont. writes: Il
have small tract of land that cannot
be irrigated. The soil varies from
clay to sand. Will flax grow
upon dry land? If SO, how would you
prepare the seed bed. and how much
seed would you SOW per acre? Will
treating the seed with formaldehyde
he Of value?"
Reply: Yes. fax will grow upon
dry land, providing the proper systems
OF farm management are followed.
Perhaps the most important thing
that will determine whether profta.
BILE crop of fax can be raised upon dry
land is the method Of preparing the
seed bed. We cannot too strongly
emphasize this point. The land should
be plowed very early In the spring.
end 1t should be plowed to a good
depth. The plow should be followed
with disc and harrow. The disc will
pack down the soil and pulverize some
of the sod. The harrow will level off
the land and put dust mulch upon
the surface. These two points should
never be overlooked, if we wish to re.
ceive the best results.
The amount of seed to SOW per acre
will be influenced by the time of seed.
Ing and the method of preparing the
bed. II the seed bed Is we'll prepared,
about twenty pounds of seed per acre
will be sufficient. This seed should
be drilled in to depth Of one to one
and one-half inches and should be
seeded as early in the spring as pos
sible. Some farmers have had good
yields upon dry land when they delay.
ed the seeding until the first part OF
June. This is not good practice,
however, because we are apt to lose
from the soil large amount of moisture
and 1t is likely to be very dry late in
the season. If the crop had been put
in at an early date, 1t would have
made use of this moisture and have
matured before the dry weather came.
Flax is q quick growing crop and 1t
demands large amount of available
plant food. For this reason we wish
to again emphasize the early seeding
and good preparation OF the seed bed.
The treatment of fax seed with for
maldehyde is indeed very valuable IN
destroying some of the bacteria that
are found upon the grain. A great
deal of caro- is necessary in treating
the flax seed with this solution. II
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and immersed in barrel of the solu.
ton, it will form into a compact mass
that will be almost impossible to
break up so that the seed will run
through the drill. The formaldehyde
solution is, perhaps, not quite as
strong as that used In the treatment
Of wheat and oats for smut. A mix.
ture of one pound of formaldehyde
with forty gallons Of water is very
desirable. This solution Is sprayed
with a force pump upon the seed.
which Is scattered In thin layer upon
the floor. By the use Of the force
pump each seed will be wet with a
very fine spray. After each seed is
we'll saturated the entire mass should
be covered with blanket or tarpaul'
In and allowed to remain for a short
time, not over two hours, after which
the covering can be removed and the
grain stirred with garden rake until
1t is thoroughly dry.
The thing to be kept in mind in
treating the flax seed with tornado.
hyde is to SO treat the grain that hard
masses will not form. In this connec
ton, again, we might state that the
treatment CT the seed with Tornado
hyde will not entirely rid the farmer
Of fax wilt The bacteria that cause
! this disease live over winter not onl!
IN the grain but in the soil and on the
weeds and grasses In the field Fol
this reason the formaldehyde treat
ment should be supplemented by the
selection of clean land.
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