ENEMIES OF RYE 349 



scab, and decreased the yield of potatoes.'* As a cover crop 

 for orchards, either alone or with hair}'- vetch (^Vicia villosa 

 Roth), r}-e has given satisfactory results. 



487. Cultural Methods. — The same principles apply to the 

 preparation of the seed bed and the methods of seeding as in 

 the case of winter wheat. Ordinarily where both wheat and r}'e 

 are sown, the r}-e is sown first. No experiments have been 

 reported with regard to the best quantit}^ of seed per acre 

 applicable to American conditions. In an experiment in Den- 

 mark, seeding in var}'ing rates from tAvo to three and one-fourth 

 bushels per acre, the largest yield of both grain and straw was 

 obtained by sowing at the rate of tu'O and one-half bushels, or 

 2,280 million grains, per acre during an average of three years. 

 The percentage of grain per straw and the size of grains were 

 larger at the thinner seeding. From one and one-half to two 

 bushels of r}'e per acre is usually sown in this countr}\ Where 

 grown for soiling the seeding may be heavier. In a ten years' 

 trial with different sized seed only a slight increase in grain and 

 straw was obtained from the larger seed; the increase being 

 rather greater in the straw than in the grnin.- 



Rye is not infrequently pastured in the fall with either cattle 



or sheep, and sometimes again in the spring, after which the 



stock is removed and the r}-e allowed to ripen. While this 



reduces the yield, r}-e will stand this treatment better than any 



other cereal crop. In case r}'e makes too large a growth in the 



fall and is in danger of throwing up culms, or becoming jointed, 



as it is called, pasturing, especially with sheep, may even prove 



beneficial. This is a condition, however, which seldom arises. 



4SS. Enemies of Rye. — Rye may become infested •with the same weeds thai 

 infest -vs-inter wheat. Chess, however, is less commonly found in rye, probably on 

 account of the greater hardiness of the latter. (139) It has no specific insect pest, 

 but may be attacked by those insects which feed upon all cereal crops indiscrimi- 

 nately, such as the chinch bug, army worm and grasshopper. The stored grain is 



1 N. Y. (Geneva) Bui. 13S, p. 629. 



* Tidsskr. Landbr. Planteavl., I, pp. 1-30 • E. S. R. \'II, 203. 



