308 TRANSACTIONS OF THE 



Land intended for this grain should be plowed in the autumn, and again 

 early in the spring, if a full crop is desired ; it will, however, grow with 

 less cultivation and on a greater variety of soil than any other of the 

 cereal grasses, but succeeds the best on newly broken up pastures, and 

 fresh soils abounding in organic substances. A M'retched custom prevails 

 in this country and Great Britain, of taking two crops of oats in succes- 

 sion, or an oat crop after a barley or wheat crop, which is bad husbandry. 



The spikelets of oats contain three seeds, and the florets are furnished 

 with awns. It differs from wheat in the form of the ear ; it is not a spike 

 with a single sachis, but a panicle, resembling pine branches ; the grains 

 hang with the open extremities downward, and are covered with chaif which 

 defends them from rain, and renders it less liable to some diseases that 

 wheat is subject to. 



PtYE — {Secale Cereale.) 



This grain approaches the nearest to that of wheat in its glutenous pro- 

 perties, and ranks next to it in the fitness of its flour for baking into bread. 

 It has probably been noticed by you that have eaten rye bread, that it 

 has a sweet taste, which shows that the flour contains much saccharine 

 matter. Rye flour absorbes much more moisture from the atmosphere than 

 that made from any other grain. The husk contains an aromatic acidulous 

 flavour, and if the bran is not entirely separated when ground into flour, it 

 gives the bread an agreeable taste. It is a singular fact that in the baking, 

 it undergoes an acetous fermentation, which renders the bread sour a short 

 time after it is made, and often has a gentle aperient action upon the 

 bowels. If, however, it is mixed with wheat flour, say two-thirds wheat 

 and one-third rye, it makes a far better bread than either would alone, and 

 is greatly preferred to any other by thc'^e accustomed to use it. It is solid 

 and firm, retains its moisture for a long time, and is very nutritious and 

 healthy. To obtain this result readily, sow rye and wheat together. 



Rye contains a sufficient quantity of sugar to be easily converted into 

 malt, and consequently spirits and beer. Two parts of unmalted rye meal, 

 mixed with one part barley, is used in Holland for the distillation of Ge- 

 neva, and it is imagined that an essential oil in the husk imparts to it its 

 flavor. 



But this grain which is so much cultivated for bread, is subject to a dis- 

 agreeable disease known as ergot, which consists of an enlargement of the 

 grain by a fungous ; it is a deadly poison, and produces upon the human 

 constitution a dreadful efl'ect, causing in some cases epilepsy, which soon 

 ends fatally. Some are rendered crazy, and others still suffer with morti- 

 fication of the legs, arms, &c. Its use has proved particularly fatal in 

 parts of Germany and France, but seldom in England or this country. 

 When sown for a crop, two and half bushels per acre is the proper quan- 

 tity, but if for straw plait, four bushels would not be too much, as it vege- 

 tates slowly. It is best always to sow it when the earth is dry, otherwise 

 it may rot before germination takes place. No opinion can ever be formed 



