42 Journal of the Department of Agriculture. 



wild rye is perennial with a jointed rachis, both of which characters 

 have disappeared in cultivation. It is further said that the culture of 

 rye, while more than two thousand years old, is not as ancient as that 

 of wheat and barley. It would seem that the Greeks were not 

 acquainted with it, ond Homan writers in the time of Pliny spoke of 

 it as a new plant grown by certain barbarian tribes. No rye remains 

 are found in the middens of the Swiss lake-dwellers, while wheat, 

 barley and spelt occur. 



Botanical and Agricultural Characters. 



In its botanical relationship, physiological characters, manner of 

 growth, and method of cultivation, rye is closely comparable 

 with wheat. 



Percentage Composition of Rye and Wheat Grain. — The following 

 are averages of many analyses taken from different reliable sources : — 



Nitrogen 

 Water. Ash. Protein. Fiber. (Free Fat. 



Extracf). 



Rye 11.6 1.9 10.6 1.7 72.5 1.7 



Spring wheat . 10.4 1.9 12.5 1.8 71.2 2.2 



The composition of rye-straw is almost identical with that of 

 wheat-straw, with the exception that the former is much tougher in 

 fiber, which gives it a special value for papermaking, thatching, 

 bedding and packing purposes. 



Culture and Soil. — The preparation of the seed-bed, rate of 

 sowing*, harvesting, etc., is nearly the same as for wheat. Rye will 

 make a fair growth on soils which are too light and poor for the 

 successful growing of wheat, barley, oats, or maize. It thrives best 

 on lighter fertile loams and does not grow so well on wet or heavy 

 clay soils. 



The yields are according to fertility of soil and climatic condi- 

 tions. Eight to fifteen bags of grain (200 lb.) per morgen is not 

 uncommon. Rye also resists more drought and rust than most of the 

 softer types of wheat and its value as green pasturage during autumn, 

 winter, or spring is well known in this country. 



Varieties. — Rye, unlike most other cereals, has developed very few 

 varieties. "White" rye, "Common" rye, "Winter" rye, 

 "Mammoth White AVinter " and "Spring" rye, etc., often figure 

 in catalogues of seedsmen, but the distinction between the so-called 

 varieties is not at all well marked, and the writer is inclined to believe 

 that there are, at the most, only two varieties, and that soil and 

 climatic conditions are really responsible for the rest. 



Bread. — Rye giain, mixed with wheaten or other chaff, is often 

 used in certain parts of this country as a feed for horses and mules, 

 but never, to my knowledge, has the rye berry, even to a limited 

 degree, been regulaily used for bread-making purposes in South 

 Africa. In Europe, according to statistics, rye constitutes the main 

 bread grain of considerably more than one-third of the inhabitants. 

 Rye flour carries some of its protein in the form of gluten, and unlike 

 maize, makes a nice porous, but rather dark-coloured bread. In 

 oversea countries rye flour is now also made by the roller process 

 similar to the methods employed in wheat milling, and it is said that 



