USE OF RYE 351 



are made suitable for the use of individual fanners as well as 

 the large machines intended for itinerant threshing. 



490. Use. — The grain of r}^e is used for the production of 

 flour, for food for domestic animals, and for the production of 

 alcohol and alcoholic beverages. Rye flour is prepared in 

 two forms : (i) fine r}'e flour, which has been thoroughly bolted 

 according to modern processes of milling (176, 177), and (2) 

 coarse rye flour, which corresponds to Graham flour in wheat 

 (174) Bread made from coarse r}'e flour has usually been 

 esteemed more nutritious than th^t made from fine rye flour. 

 Fine r}'e flour is less nutritious than bread from wheat flour. On 

 the European continent where coarse r}'e bread is usually 

 eaten it has been considered more nutritious than wheat bread. 

 Digestion experiments, however, tend to show that fine white 

 flour contains the greater net available energy. In America 

 rye bread is in very small demand and mostly by those who 

 have acquired a taste for it in European countries. 



Rye, preferably ground, forms a satisfactory food for all classes 

 of domestic animals, and may be fed as a substitute for maize 

 whenever the price is such as to justify. Rye straw is used in 

 the manufactmre of paper, for a great variety of packing, in- 

 cluding fruit trees, and for bedding for domestic animals. Rye 

 straw is so highly prized for these uses that rye is largely 

 raised in this country for the production of straw rather than 

 for the production of grain. Were it not for the demand 

 for the straw, the production of rye would probably rapidly 

 decrease. 



"The manufacture of straw is one of the most important industries of this Em- 

 pire, giving thousands means of support. I believe it could be profitably intro- 

 duced into Wisconsin, Minnesota, northern Michigan, the woods of Maine and 

 hills of Vermont, New Hampshire and western Massachusetts. Straw, that once 

 served only for fuel or fertilizing purposes, is puc up by these people into the most 

 useful, beautiful and fantastic forms Plates, dishes, baskets, boxes, tables, 

 trunks, fans, hats, caps, mats, etc., are made by the million and sent to all parts of 

 the world. In a stretch of country containing six square miles, there are 10,000 

 persons employed in making articles of straw. 



