CHAPTER VIII 
RYE 
early spring and you will find the soil com- 
pletely covered with the foliage of the plant, 
and the soil for six or more inches in depth a perfect 
mass of roots. Plowing rye is like plowing grass sod. 
The rye plant covering the soil during the winter 
season prevents the disastrous leaching that occurs on 
soils not covered. The foliage and roots give organic 
matter and ventilation to the soil. 
It is said on the best authority that green rye is equal, 
ton for ton, to stable manure, with one small exception. 
Manure has half a pound of phosphoric acid per ton 
more thari rye. 
In a ton of green rye there are eleven pounds of 
nitrogen, four and one-half pounds of phosphoric acid 
and twelve and one-half pounds of potash. A ton of 
green clover contains only twelve pounds of nitrogen. 
Rye sown early in the fall will by May 1 produce 
five to fifteen tons of rye to the acre. This plowed 
under on that date would give you, compared to manure, 
a money value of $10 to $20 per acre procured at an 
expense of less than $2 per acre. In addition to its 
manuring value, it can be grown at the time of the year 
when much of your soil is not occupied with other crops. 
SI 
E XAMINE the rye plant and its roots in the 
