CULTIVATION OP RYE. 1G7 



grain is composed becoming bran. This should not be 

 forgotten, and when the wheat reaches the proper dog wo 

 of ripeness it should be cut at once. 



553. Exposure to rains after cutting is very injurious 

 to wheat. It makes both grain and straw darker in color 

 and is apt to cause a partial decay on the surface. The 

 parts thus affected mix with the rest in grinding, and give 

 the flour a dark hue. Wheat should therefore be stacked, 

 or housed as soon as possible after reaping. 



554. Rye. Rye holds the next rank among 

 the cereals in its nutritive qualities and its 

 importance as food for man. The form of an ear 

 of rye is shown in figure 29. It occupies the same 

 place in the rotation on light soils that wheat does 

 on heavy ones. 



555. Wheat, as we have seen, is most produc 

 tive only on a calcareous soil that is, a soil which 

 contains more or less lime. Rye accommodates 

 itself to much lighter and drier soils, and though 

 it does better where there is some lime in the soil, 

 it does not require the presence of this substance 

 as wheat does, and in point of fact it is usually 

 sown upon the poorest soils of the farm. 



556. There are two well-marked varieties of 

 rye, the winter and spring, which are cultivated 

 like winter and spring wheat. Rye is much less - lg 

 sensitive to the cold than wheat, while its growth is much 

 more rapid. Hence it is a better staple crop for a high 

 northern latitude. 



557. When sown for its grain, about one bushel of seed 

 per acre is required. If sown as a green crop for sofling 

 or feeding out green to cattle, two or three bushels per 

 acre are usually allowed. 



15* 



