RYE 153 



has been observed growing so thickly that it appeared to 

 have been sown. 



145. Present range. Rye is by nature a plant of 

 high latitudes, and is of rare occurrence in very warm 

 regions. Nevertheless, it is not grown so far north nor 

 at such extreme elevations as barley. .Only spring 

 varieties are planted near the northern limits of cultiva- 

 tion. In Finland rye is grown north of the Arctic Circle 

 but not generally so, while barley is generally grown 

 north of 68. In the Himalayan region rye is grown up 

 to 14,000 feet altitude. From Germany eastward to the 

 Ural Mountains is the region of far the greatest produc- 

 tion. In Norway its cultivation extends to latitude 69. 

 In southern Europe rye is grown almost only at high alti- 

 tudes. Spring rye, under the special name " yaritsa," 

 is a common crop in central and eastern Siberia. In 

 South America rye is grown little, if at all, outside of 

 southern Chile. At Rampart, Alaska, latitude 65 30', 

 rye has matured for several years. 



146. Classification. The species Secale montanum, 

 from which cultivated rye is considered to have sprung, 

 includes, in the broad sense, two other species, Secale ana- 

 tolicum, Boissier, and Secale dalmaticum, Visiani. Schulz 

 (1913, pp. 71-72) gives very plausible reasons for believing 

 that the descent of common rye has been through the 

 former of these two species. It is found in Syria, 

 Armenia, Persia, Afghanistan, Turkestan, Sungari, and 

 the Kirghiz Steppe. The different forms of it vary greatly, 

 some of these being more nearly like common rye than the 

 other species. It has a long vegetative life period, and in 

 southern Russia it is reported that cultivated winter rye 

 will furnish three or more crops from the same roots. 

 From present knowledge the relationships of the species 

 of rye appear to be as follows : 



