288 THE AMERICAN FARMER. 



or calves, and not allow it to be grazed very closely, as there should be a sufficient growth of 

 the leaves of the plant to afford a protection to the roots during the winter. 



Varieties of Bye. These consist of the spring and winter grain, the former being 

 only a modification of the latter, produced, as in the case of wheat, by continuous late 

 sowing in the fall for several years until the result is a grain that can be successfully sown 

 in the spring. The spring variety can be easily transformed into the winter by reversing the 

 process, and sowing continuously earlier each year, until the usual time of sowing winter rye 

 is reached. 



Soil for Rye. Although rye can be successfully grown on a great variety of soils, 

 yet it is of the finest and best quality when produced on a dry, sandy one, where few, if any, 

 other grains can be cultivated with equal advantage. By this, we do not mean the poorest 

 soil that can be found, and which contains but little of the elements of plant-food, or that rye 

 can be successfully grown with but slight preparation of the land, and the constant cropping 

 of the same fields with it, and no manure supplied -to return the nutritive properties extracted 

 by the successive crops. A rotation is better for any kind of crops, since the same, repeated 

 year by year, without any equivalent return to the soil of the plant-food extracted, will drain 

 it more surely and quickly than different crops succeeding each other, as different plants 

 require different proportions of the elements of plant nutrition that the soil furnishes. 



The better the soil is adapted to any plant, the better its preparation for the seed and 

 the after cultivation, the better the crop, as a general rule, and while we do not think those 

 farmers do wisely who make a practice of giving their rye the poorest soil, with little or no 

 manure, and the least preparation and care of any crop, still they will secure a better harvest 

 of this grain under such unfavorable circumstances than almost any other. 



The most profitable agriculture is that where the soil and cultivation is especially adapted 

 to what is intended to be produced, and no farmer has a right even to expect a good harvest 

 without giving the crop to be cultivated a fair chance of realizing his expectations. 



We have seen a good growth of rye on a sandy soil that would produce scarcely any- 

 thing else, but the soil was fairly enriched before the seed was sown. Clay is not favorable 

 to its cultivation, especially a heavy, undrained clay, and it will never do well in a wet soil 

 of any kind. A clay loam will produce a fine growth of straw, but the grain will not be as 

 good as that grown on a sandy soil, the latter producing a more plump kernel of better qual 

 ity than the former. A rich loam will produce a larger quantity of grain than sandy soil, 

 but of less value. Rye is a strong feeder, and will extract about the last element of soluble 

 plant growth from the soil ; hence, land that has become so exhausted that it cannot yield rye, 

 is very poor indeed, and will require a long period of rest, or a large amount of manure of 

 some kind to cause it to produce anything. It is more hardy than wheat and not as liable to 

 lodge with heavy growth. Almost any kind of fertilizer is beneficial, finely-pulverized 

 farm manure, that from a well-prepared compost heap, ashes, or chemical fertilizers having 

 been found valuable in its cultivation. Green manures are also beneficial. Rye frequently 

 follows corn in cultivation with little or no additional fertilizers. 



The color of the grain, as well as its quality for making flour, is greatly modified by the 

 character of the soil that produces it. 



Sowing and Harvesting Bye. The land should be plowed for rye to a moderate 

 depth, and pulverized with the harrow, the manure to be lightly harrowed in before the seed 

 is sown. When winter rye is grown, the best time for sowing it is between the middle of 

 August and the last of September, although many farmers delay it until the last of October. 

 When sown early it has a better chance to tiller out and cover the ground before cold weather 

 than that sown later, also a better start in the spring; consequently late sowing is not desira 

 ble. The poorer the soil, the earlier the seed should be sown, and, as a general rule, when 



