ECONOMIC OR USEFUL PLANTS 



395 



examples, those grown in Kansas and the southwest. These 

 however are not quite equal to the spring wheat of the north- 

 west; because of the somewhat more extended period of growth, 

 there is a larger proportion of starch. 



557. Rye. (Secale cereale, believed to be native in the region 

 between the Black and Caspian Seas). This cereal resembles 

 wheat, but the heads 



are longer and more 

 slender, the grainsbe- 

 ing more slender, and 

 the straw is stiff and 

 long. It is very ex- 

 tensively cultivated 

 in northern Europe, 

 and is there more 

 commonly used for 

 bread than in this 

 country where the 

 crop is small. Russia 

 is the greatest rye- 

 growing country in 

 the world. Winter 

 varieties are most 

 generally used, and 

 are sown in the au- 

 tumn. Rye does well 

 on much poorer soil 

 than wheat, and the 

 crop is sometimes 

 used for green soiling 

 by plowing it under to enrich the soil. Besides its use for food 

 rye is used in making some of the grades of whisky. 



558. Oats. The flowers of oats (Avena saliva) are. in loose 

 panicles and the grains are permanently covered by the palets, 

 not shelling out as in wheat. In northern climates they are sown 

 early in the spring to secure the stocky growth. In southern 



Fig. 385. 



Oat heads, showing the common branching one and a side 

 head variety (flag oats). From Bureau Plant Industry. 



