Ch. XL] ON RYE. 167 



RYE-CORN. 



A similar objection seems to reign against the employment of rye in this 

 comitry as horse-corn ; for it is never given to cattle in England, though 

 it is much used as provender in many parts of North America ; and 

 throughout Holland the post-boys may be seen baiting their horses with 

 rye-bread, and then cutting a substantial slice for themselves from the 

 same loaf. This prejudice is deeply to be regretted ; for the grain thrives 

 upon poor sands, upon which wheat would scarcely retvirn the seed ; 

 while its weight of corn is nearly as great as that grown upon good land, 

 and it is produced at far less expense. It also yields a larger quantity of 

 straw, and the finest kind of ardent spirit is distilled from it in Holland ; 

 it may, therefore, be justly considered as a precious gift of Providence to 

 the inhabitants of sterile soils. 



The varieties of rye are fewer than those of wheat ; but there is a winter 

 and a spring species, partakirig of the same peculiarities in their growth, 

 and also occasioned solely by the same difference in the mode of culture 

 and the season of sowing as we have stated to produce similar varieties 

 in wheats * : that sown in the autumn takes longer to vegetate, tillers 

 more abundantly, and gives larger crops, than that sown in the spring. 

 The latter is, however, rarely grown by the farmers of this country ; 

 though on the Continent it is found to succeed well after potatoes, 

 which cannot be conveniently got off the ground in time for the sowing 

 of the autumn species. It must, in that case, be sown, at latest, by 

 the end of March ; for, if the sowing be protracted much beyond that 

 period, it has been, in many instances, known to fail. It is smaller in the 

 grain, and the product is less ; but the husk is thinner, and the flour is pe- 

 culiarly fine. 



The chief distinction in the sorts usually grown here, lies between the 

 white and dusky species : the grain of the latter being smaller, and the 

 meal of inferior quality. The most hardy kind is produced in the Russian 

 provinces on the shores of the Baltic : its vegetation is slower, and it 

 ripens later than any other ; but it stands the changes of weather better, 

 is more productive, and less subject to shed the grain. It should, there- 

 fore, be preferred for seed when it can be obtained ; but the chief portion 

 of that imported into England is grown in Poland, This species must, 

 however, be sown much earlier than any other, and the quantity of seed 

 should not be more than about two-thirds of that commonly used for the 

 ordinary kinds. As it tillers slower than other sorts, farmers often 

 imagine that they have not sown enough of seed, for it sometimes appears 

 very scanty, even in the middle of May ; but towards the middle of June it 

 surpasses every other variety known t- 



SOIL. 



The Soils which are the most appropriate to the growth of rye are those 

 which contain the greatest proportion of sand ; and it is the only corn 

 which can be grown upon land which is composed of a mixture of more 

 than 85 per cent, of sand with other earths J. Those soils, however, 

 which contain a less portion of sand, are preferable; for, although it will 

 grow upon ground of the poorest description, yet the produce will be more 



* See the paragraph upon Winter and Spring wheat, p. 138. 



t Von Thaer says, that he has sown it so early as the middle of June, without its 

 having shown any appearance of rising during that year: and that, if sown so late as 

 October, it tillers very feebly. — Principes Raisonnes d'Agric, 2de ed. torn. iv.p. 123. 



X See the Table in page 1 13. 



