GRA.SSES OF IOWA. 159 



the yield per acre at only fourteen bushels. Winter wheat 

 shows just the opposite, the yield in the north half of the state 

 was only seventeen bushels per acre, the south half, nineteen. 



Rye. — Rye in a general way covers the same territory that 

 wheat does. According to Koernicke and Werner* the southern 

 extension is at Punta Arenas Magellanes, 50° south latitude. 

 In Switzerland it matures between 1,700 m. and 1,900 m. In 

 the United States the successful cultivation of rye extends fur- 

 ther southward than that of wheat and oats. In regard to its 

 culture in the United Stites it maybe said that the chief region 

 of its cultivation is north of the Ohio river and west to central 

 Nebraska, although it is successful further south than wheat, 

 especially in the states of Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi. 

 Professor Brewerf says concerning its culture; "During the 

 whole colonial period, and, indeed, far into the present cen- 

 tury, it was the common ingredient of bread for a great many 

 families in this country. Wheat never flourished well in por- 

 tions of New England, and the same may be said in a lesser 

 degree of parts of the middle states and of a belt of land 

 exten ing southward along the Appalachian mountains, while 

 over the whole of this region rye flourished reasonably well. " 

 In this state the same conditions hold as to wheat, sixteen bush- 

 els per acre in the south half and nineteen for the north half. 



* ' Before the days of railroad transportation, and especially 

 before the opening of the Erie canal, rye bread was the com- 

 mon bread among a large portion of the population of the 

 whole region indicated, in many places, particularly in New 

 England, rye being usually mixed with corn for bread, and 

 'Rye and Indian 'was a familiar term m most households east 

 of the Catskills and north of the Delaware. A similar bread 

 of maize and rye is still common bread of Portugal, the rela- 

 tive proportions of each varying with the year, a good year 

 for rye being usually a poor one for corn, and the composition 

 of the bread varying accordingly. ' ' 



The distribution and importance of rye in Europe is much 

 greai"er than in the United States, but in a very general way 

 it covers the same area as wheat does. The vegetative period 

 is about 125 days for summer rye, with a mean temperature 

 of 54«. 



•Handbuch 2: 579. 



tOereal Production. Tenth Census Rep. 3. 



