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fix inches diftance, where they fnay (land till autumn, 

 but muft be kept clean from weeds during that time ; 

 then they may be tranfplanted into the borders of the 

 flower-garden, where they are to remain. 

 As thefe plants are not of long duration, it will be 

 proper to fow a fuccefTion of feeds every other year at 

 leaft, to fupply the places of thofe which decay. 

 SEC ALE. Tourn. Inft. R. H. 513. tab. 294. Lin. 

 Gen. Plant. 92. Rye ; in French, Segle, 



The Characters are, 

 ^here are two flowers in each invohcntm \ they have two 

 leaves which are oppojite^ narrow^ ere^^ and Jha7'p- 

 pointed. The petals have two leaves ; the outer valve is 

 rigid^ bellied^ acute-pointed^ and corapreJfed\ the lower 

 border is hairy ^ ending in a long awn ; the inner is plain 

 and fpear-Jhaped \ they have two oval ere£l neflariums^ 

 and three hair-like fiamina hanging without the flower ^ 

 terminated by oblong forked fummitSy with a top-fiaped 

 germen fupporting two reflexed hairy flyles^ crowned by a 

 Jingle ftigma. The germen afterward becomes an oblong 

 almoft cylindrical feedy which ripens in the empalement. 

 This genus of plants is ranged in the fecond feftion of 

 Linnseus's third clafs, which contains thofe plants 

 whofe flowers have three fl:amina and two flyles. 

 We have but one difl:in6l SrtciEs of this genus 

 which is cultivated in England, though it is often 

 fuppofed the two varieties are cflentially different -, but 

 from feveral years cultivating them on the fame land, 

 I could find no real difference between them. Dr. 

 Linnaeus titles this Secale glumarum ciliis fcabris. 

 Hort, Upfal. 22. Rye with rough hairs to the awns, 

 Secale hybernum vel majus. C. B. P. Winter or greater 



Rye. ,/ 



. The farmers diflinguifh the two varieties by the titles 

 of Winter and Spring Rye, but, when thefe are fown 

 three or four years, at the fame feafon, and on the 

 fame foil, it will be difficult to know them afunder ; 

 but, where Rye is fown upon a warm land, it will 

 ripen much earlier than on cold ftiff ground, and by 

 continuing it two or three years, it will be forwarded 

 fo much, as to ripen a month earlier than the feeds 

 which have long grown upon a fl:rong cold foil ; fo 

 thofe who are obliged to fow Rye toward fpring, ge- 

 nerally provide themfelves with this early feed. 

 There are fome kinds of Grafs which are now ranged 



. under this generical title, but as thefe do not merit 

 cultivation, I Ihall not trouble the reader with the 

 mention of them here. 



Rye is fo well known to every one who ,is the leaft 

 acquainted with the different grains, as to need no 

 defcription. 



The Winter Rye is what the generality of farmers 

 propagate -, it is ufually fown in autumn at the fame 

 feafon with Wheat, and in many of the northern 

 counties, as alfo in Wales, they are often Aii^ed to- 

 gether, though I think it mufl: be very bad hufban- 

 dry, for the Rye will always ripen fooner than Wheat •, 

 . io that if the latter is permitted to be fully ripe, the 

 former will ftiatter ; nor can this be praftifed, where 

 the people are not accuftomed to eat Rye bread •, for 

 although it is by fome accounted good when mixed, 

 yet being fo very clammy, few people who have 

 been fed with Wheat, will ever care to eat bread made 



of this. 



Jt is generally fown upon poor, dry, gravelly, or fan- 

 dy land, where Wheat will not thrive, and in fuch 

 places may anfwer very well \ but on fuch land as 

 will bear Wheat it is not proper to fow Rye, as the 

 value of it is greatly inferior to that of Wheat, 

 When Rye is fown, the ground ihould not be too 

 ;W^t ; and if it ftiould happen that much rain falls be- 



S 



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e the Rye is come up, it often rots in the ground ; 

 but it is not long in coming up, it being much fooner 

 Ottt of the ground than Wheat. 

 The fmall Rye may be fown in the fpring about the 

 fame time with Oats, and is ufually ripe as foon as 

 the other fort j but if the feafon proves wet, it is apt 

 to run much to fl:raw, and then the grain is generally 

 lighter than the other j fo the only ufe of this fort, is 



to fow upon fuch lands wlicre the aiuunlnal Crop 

 may have mifcarried. 



The general ufe of Rye is for bread, either alone, or 

 mixed with Wheat; but (as was before obferved) it 

 is only fit for fuch perfons who have been ufed to 

 this food, few other perfons carin<^ to eat of it ; 

 nor have I ever heard of its having been exported, 

 fo can never be worth cultivating in general ; thouo-h 

 I have been informed it will yield a ftrong fpirir, 

 which perhaps may occafion its being more cultivated, 

 fince the pernicious ufe of fpirituous liquors is now 

 tolerated. 



Rye is alfo fown in autumn to afford green feed for 

 ewes and lambs in the fpring, before there is plenty 

 of Grafs. When this is intended, the Rye Ihould be, 

 fown early in autumn that it may have ftrength to fur- 

 ni(h early feed. The great ufe of this is to fupply 

 the want of Turneps in thofe places where they have 

 failed, as alfo, after the Turneps are over, and before 

 the Grafs is grown enough, to fupply green feed iot 

 the ewes ; fo that in thofe feafons, when the Turneps 

 in general fail, it is very good hufbandry to fow the 

 land with Rye, efpecially where there are ftocks of 

 flieep, which cannot be well fupported, where green 

 feed is wanting early in the fpring ; therefore thofe far- 

 mers who have large live ftocks, ftiould have feveral 

 meth6ds offupplying themfelves with fufficientfeed, 

 left fome ftiould fail ; for as Turneps are a very pre- 

 carious crop, fome land ftiould be fown vc\i\\ Cole^ 

 feed, which will fupply the want of Turneps in win- 

 ter ; and if fome of the ground, which was fown 

 late with Turneps which had failed, was fown in au- 

 tumn with Rye, that would be fit to fupply the want 

 of Cole-feed afterward. 

 SECUJIIDACA. Tourn. Inft. R. H. ^t^g, tab. 

 224. Coronilla. Lin. Gen. Plant. 789. [fo' called from 

 fecuris, Lat. a hatchet, becaufe the ancients fancied 

 the feeds of it refembled a hatchet.] Hatchet- vetch. 



The Characters are, 

 The empalement of the flower is Jhort^ comfreffed^ and of 

 one kaf cut into two fegments which are ere5f. The flower 

 is of the butterfly kind j the fiondard is heart-fhaped^ re- 

 flexed on both Jides^ and fcarce longer than the wings ; 

 thefe are oval, joining at the topy but open at the botto7n ; 

 the keel is cc77ipreffed and pointed. It hath ten ftaminay 

 nine joined, and one feparate, terminated ly fmall fummits^ 

 and an oblong compreffed germen, with a briflly ftyle^ 

 crowned by an obtufe ftigma. The germen afterward turns 

 ' to a long, compreffed, fword-fhaped pod, with a thick 

 border on one Jide, plain on the other, opening in two cells^ 

 filled with fquare feeds, \ 



This genus of plants is ranged in the third feftion of 

 Linnasus's fevcnteenth clais, which contains thofe 

 plants whofe flowers have ten ftamina joined in two 

 bodies \ he has alfo joined it to the genus of Coronilla- 

 We have but one Species of this genus at prefent^ 



which is, 

 Securidaca {Lutea) herbacealeguminibus falcato-gta- 

 diatis. Herbaceous Hatchet-vetch^ with hooked fxvord^ 



. fhaped pods. 

 This plant grows naturally in the Corn-fields in Spain 



.and Italy ; it is annual, and perilhes foon after the 

 feeds are ripe ; this hath trailing herbaceous ftalks 

 which" grow a foot and a half long, and divide into 

 many branches which fpread on the ground, and are 

 garniflied with winged leaves compofed of feven or 

 eight pair of oval obtufe lobes, terminated by an odd 

 one ; they are of a deep green and fmooth. From the 

 wings of the leaves arifethe foot-ftalksof the flowers ; 

 thefe come out by pairs oppofite at each joint, are 

 five or fix inches long, fuftaining at the top a large 

 clufter of yellow flowers of the butterfly kind , thefe 

 are fucceeded by comprefted pods four or five inches 

 long, ending in acute points ; they have a future on 

 each fide, one plain, and the other rifmg and thick; 

 they are joined at their bafe to the foot-ftalk, buc 

 fpread open like the rays of aftar, and are divided by 



' a longitudinal partition into two cells, each contain- 

 ing a row of fquare flat feeds of a reddifli colour. This 



12 E "']§tant 



