152 THE SMALL GRAINS 



its width when compared with wheat and barley. The 

 width decreases from the middle and is reduced to a 

 point at the germ end. The apical end is blunt and 

 covered with short, hollow hairs, these being shorter than 

 those in wheat. The hollows in the hairs have a greater 

 diameter than the cell wall, which is not true of the hairs 

 of the wheat kernel. There is a deep longitudinal groove 

 or suture on the side of the kernel next the palea. The 

 sides of the groove are pressed together more or less tightly 

 so that the depth of the suture is not apparent except in 

 cross section. The opposite side of the kernel is rather 

 definitely rigid, the sides appearing somewhat pinched. 

 The outside covering of the kernel is more or less wrinkled 

 and dull in appearance. In color the kernel may be of 

 varying shades of blue green, gray, yellow, grayish brown, 

 the color being in the aleurone layer. Endosperm vitreous 

 in section ; aleurone cells in one row ; starch grains simple. 

 144. Origin of rye. Apparently this cereal has not 

 been comparatively long in cultivation. According to 

 De Candolle (1892, pp. 370-382) it has not been found 

 in Egyptian monuments. It has no name in Semitic 

 languages nor Sanscrit nor in the modern languages 

 directly derived from these. It has no mention, it seems, 

 in old Chinese or Japanese literature, but is now much 

 cultivated in Siberia. Unlike the cases of other cereals, 

 no trace of rye has been found in the remains of the Lake 

 Dwellings. Its earliest cultivation appears to have been 

 in western Asia and southern Russia. It is interesting 

 in this connection to remember that Russia has for a long 

 time grown much more rye than any other country, and 

 also to note that all the known species of Secale inhabit 

 western Asia and southeastern Europe. It is also perti- 

 nent that in Shugnan and near Tashkent, Secale montanum 



