THE FARM.

Mataura Ensign, Volume 7, Issue 414, 2 December 1884, Page 6

THE FARM.

ljnsekd as a rotation with .Whea.t; " | [By John L. Dow, M.P.] The growing r of flax in America id carried on more extensively as a seed crop than for fibre, the reason beingthat only special districts are suited to the production of the flax, while any of the Wheat-growing States are found to be well adapted to the production of linseed. In addition to an export trade from America, which amounted for the ypar 1882 to 3,415,624 bushels of linseed, and 1,573,842 gallons of oil, there is an annually increasing demand for the linseed in New! York, Chicago, i Kansas City, and other pedigree-stock-raising centres for, cattle food ; and as a result the chief wheat-grow-ing States are all found to combine with that cereal a considerable production of linseed. Grown for the fibre, flax is a crop that requires unceasing care and, attention, together with an amount. of hard labor that renders its production ver/ expensive in any country where wages aie high. Linseed, on the other hand, is as easily grown as any of the cereal crops, and ifc has been found by the American wheat growers to have an astonishing effect in cleaning and fertilising , wheat lands that have become grain sick and fonl with weeds. | Kansas, the central State of the Union— whoso climate in a general way much resembles that of the northern districts of New South Wales, South Australia and Victoria — where their wheat is grown, may be j taken as a representative example lof how linseed-growing accompanies wheat culture throughout AmericaKansad,^in size, is similar to Victoria, having an area of 81,000 square miles, with a population of 950,000. For the year 1882 there were 1,165,000 acres under wheat, and 315,000 acres under flax, nearly all for linseed. The market price at Chicago und Kansas city during the year varied from 1 dolbr to 1| dollars (6s to 8s) per bushel. Mr William Grice, whose farm of 300 acres near the township of Lamed, in Kansas, is chiefly dcv ted to wheat growing, informed me that he has never less than 50 to 70 acres under linseed every year, from which he obtains as high as 25 bushels p r acre, and never less than 15 bushels. The year following the linseed, also he states, can always be depended upon for a heavy crop of wheatj if the season is at all favorable with respect to rainfall. Mr Grice is so thoroughly convinced of the value of the linseed crop as a l'otation with wheat that he considers ifc better than a bare fallow for the land as a cleaner and fertiliser, even apart from its own profits ; and this he also affirms, is the opinion of all his neighboring farmers in. Kansas who have adopted the linseed i%otation. Why the growing of linseed has this effect ht> expressed his inability to say. Some of his neighbors suggested that it might be in the opening up of the subsoil received from the deeply penetrating flax roots, while others thought that there must be some peculiar fertilising influence about the. oiliness of the crop, which had the, effect of so highly benefiting the succeeding crops of wheat. Whatever tbe reason might be, however, Mr. Grice is decided as to the good effects. About 1878, wheat growing in that State had, he said, reached an average, of about its tenth consecutive season without change. The land as a consequence had receded from a former average of 18 bushels per acre, to about 9 1 bushels, besides having become foul with wild oats and other weeds. For tbe year 1882 the average yield throughout the State had reached 22 bushels per acre, ar.d this result was generally admitted to have arisen from the increasing proportion of wheat land that during recent years had been devoted to the growing of linseed as a rotation. Another special advantage connected with the linseed crop as pointed out by Mr Grice is the fact of its not being required to be sown before spring. In this way the wheat stubbles are enabled to be utilised for stock by the harrowing in of some quickly growing green crop, early in the autumn, which at the same time helped to promote the growth of weed, with a view to their being afterwards ploughed down and destroyed. After thus being grazed upoil, the plough waa put into the land towards t l ie close of the winter, and by means of sufficient harrowing made very fine for the reception of the seed. In land inclined to break into clods, the alternate use of the roller and harrow was required to reduce the surface to the necessary fineness. With respect to obtaining seed Mr Grice stated that one of the most fruitful causes of failure amongst the growers in their earlier linseed growing at tempts consisted in being supplied by the dealers with bad seed. His practice was to obtain the plumpest and brightest seed to be found. Then run it through the fanning mill twice ; and blow out all the light seed by a heavy blast. Then, at harvest time he selected those stooks of flax that grew on the best ground and that ripened first and kept theoi separate from the rest, By continuing this practice for a few years, both the quality and the quantity of the seed was greatly im proved, and the Kansas farmers had been quick to perceive the importance of growing their own seed when it | could be done with so little trouble and expense. As to quantity for sowing, Mr Grice found that it might be sowed very thin — say from half a bushel tj one bushel per acre, when the object was to grow linseed alone and not flax. Jfts practice was to sow about 1| bushels of seed per acre ; and hefoundthat this amount gaye a bettpr yiel,d pf s.eed frhan any other quantity per acre. When seed had to be purchased Mr Grice recommended testing it. Manydealers in flax seed, he said, contended that as the seed contained so much oil, jt would u.yt lose it* vitality for many

years. ilia experience, however justfied him in stating that it sometimes .lost its vitality very soon. Several years ago he procured a two bu hel sack of Russian flax seed, at a large price, and not a single seed germinated, although the soil was wtll pre pi red before it was sowed, and the seed put in when the surface was fr.esh aud niello w,while the seed possessed all the external appearance of t he best. It was of a, lively brownish color, very plump, and heavy, but its vitality was gone.* To test the seed, Mr Grice's plan is to select a few grains and sprinkle them between two thin pieces of sod laid earth gsides together, and put them on a shelf in the kitchun, where they are kept warm and not allowed to dry. In a few days every seed that has not lost its vitality will germinate, Then by counting them, he readily ascertains about what pro portion of them is good. "With respect to the process of so #- ing Mr Grice remarked that everybody knew flax seed was a very slippery grain to sow by hand. Consequently, unless great care was taken, se^d would be sown unevenly. As it was so slippery ifc was not practicable to sow it with a grain drill, nor with any kind of broad cast seedsower. The details of his practice were — After the soil had been harrowed fine, he marked out the ground two ways, in lands about 18 feet wide. This breadth was wide enough to sow at one round or two casts. The seed he soaked in warm water, about two or three hours, and then rolled ia powdered gypsum. The obj«ct of rolling the seed in gypsum was to render it less slippery, and he could always scatter the seed more evenly by sowing a few rods wide all one way. This he did by going around a land about 5 or 6 rods in width, as in ploughing. As flax seed was much more difficult to sow than most other kinds, it was very important that none but an experienced sower should be employed. With regard to covering the seed, Mr Grice said he never allowed a team of any kind to pass over the field after the seed had been sown. Flax seed, he found, required but little earth to cover it deep enough to vegetate in a short time, and by depositing it all on a smooth surface, where several seeds could not be gathered into depressions in the soil, it all vegetated alike, and evenly on the ground. Mr Grice's plan was' simply to "bush in" the seed l>y drawing a brush-harrow across ; it by hand. With a suitable brush, he j said, one man could brush in 4 or 5 acres per day, and do the work well, j Such a harrow covered a strip about 5 feet wiie, and an active man or a strong boy could cover the seed neatly as fast as he could do it with a team, and much better. About an average of' half an inch, Mr Grice considered the best depth for the linseed lo be sown, and to obtain a uniform placing of the seed at this depth necessitated a very fine preparation of the soil before sowing. Any labor expended in this direction, however, he found always well repaid itself, not only in the returns from the linseed but also in the succeeding wheat crops. In growing flax for the fibre the expenses of production are enormously ; increased by the necessity that exists , for harvesting the crop hy hand pulling, but in the linseed production Mr Grice said that no increase of expense occurred in any way above cereal growing, the reaping and threshing operations that did for wheat also sufficing for the linseed. The concave of the threshing machine required to be opened a little wider for linseed than for wheat. As for the profits of the system, Mr Grice stated that for the harvest of 1882 he had from 75 acres of linseed a total of 525 bushels which he sold at l^r dollars (6s) per bushel, realising a total of 787 i dollars, or L 157 10s. This however, he regarded as only one portion of the advantage gained, as the crop of wheat he had at the time of my visit growing on the linseed land, he stated, was not a bit better than a crop thab had followed linseed the previous year, and which yielded all over an area of 55 acres an average of 32 bushels per acre. In asking what use ho made of the straw after the linseed was threshed from it, Mr Grice said that the straightest of it made excellent thatch, and that the paper mills were buyers of the tangled straw and tow at prices giving a moderate return. The great feature of the linseed rotation/ however, waa its influence on wheat growing land in cleaning it from weeds and in improving its fertility in a manner suggesting to an onlooker that the soil had been dressed with some fertiliser specially adapted to the requirements of cereal growth.