OCR Text |
Show HIGH QUALITY FLAX ft Is One of Most Promising Crops for Dry Land. Grows Better on Loam and Clay Soil Than on Sandy and Makes Good Sod Crop Under Proper Conditions. (By ALVIN KEYSER. Colorado Agricultural Agri-cultural College.) The high prices which have prevailed pre-vailed for flax seed have been due to the extreme shortage of the crop In 1910. Flax may be grown under irrigation or on the dry land in proper conditions. condi-tions. It is one of the promising cash crops for dry land. In normal seasons, on properly prepared soils, it will probably average from 12 to 18 bushels to the acre. Flax grows best upon a moist, well compneted seed bed. It grows better on loam and clay soil than on sandy soil, but will produce good crops on fertile, sandy lands. Flax makes a good sod crop under proper conditions When grown upon sod, the breaking should be done when the sod is moist to a depth of two and a half to three inches. The breaking should be rolled down perfectly flat, so as to make good contact with the subsoil, the rolling being done immediately after the breaking. After rolling, the breaking should be harrowed lengthwise length-wise once or twice to produce a mulch at the surface. Flax may then be planted upon this prepared sod land, using twenty pounds of good, plump seed to the acre. The pi; nting may preferably be done with a disk press drill, planting plant-ing from one to two inches In depth, depending upon soil couditions Whether planted upon new land or upon old lands, the soil should be moist in the spring to insure success. If planted upon old lands, it should only be planted upon lands which are clean and free from weeds. If the land Is plowed, it should be plowed very early to permit thorough compaction compac-tion before planting. Flax may be planted upon corn stubble by simply disking and harrowing the surface. Only the brightest, plumpest and cleanest seeds should be planted, ts flax diseases, may be carried by shrunken flax 'seed. To prevent bringing in flax diseases, seed should be treated with formaldehyde. The treating solution .'s made by addins one ounce of 40 per cent formaldehyde to two and a half gallons of water and stirring thoroughly to mix. This amount of solution is sufficient to treat five bushels of seed, 1. e., one-half gallon will treat one bushel of seed. The seed should be placed on the floor In a pile, or upon canvas, and sprinkled. After the springling, the pile should be shoveled over as concrete con-crete is mixed to thoroughly mix the seed. The sprinkling and shoveling should be repeated four or five times, or until all the seed Is thoroughly moist on the outside. After treatment, treat-ment, the seed should be covered up with canvas or gunny sacks or some similar material, and left for two hours, after which It may be planted at once. If It cannot be planted at once, it should be spread out and thoroughly dried. Seeding should be done as early In the spring as possible and escape hard frosts. The time will vary from the 1st to the 10th of May In most parts of the state. The seeding should be done by a press drill, using about twenty pounds of plump, treated seed to the acre. The seeding should be done a uniform depth to insure uniform uni-form ripening. |