174 FORAGE CROPS. 



land, and to the ease with which the rootlets of the 

 rye can gather food from it. Rye has peculiar 

 adaptation for sandy land, hence on such land it 

 may be grown for forage with a fair measure of 

 success, although too poor to grow other cereals in 

 good form. On stiff clay soils, the growth is slow. 

 A further objection to growing rye on such soils for 

 pasture arises from the fact that grazing it off in 

 wet weather so tends to impact the land as to render 

 subsequent cultivation difficult and more or less 

 unprofitable. 



Preparing the Soil. When the moisture is 

 ample, the preparation of the soil for winter rye is a 

 simple process. The land only needs to be plowed 

 and pulverized so. as to produce a fine tilth, that is to 

 say, a fine condition of pulverization on the surface 

 and for some distance below it. Under these condi- 

 tions, the plowing of the land may be deferred until 

 the time approaches for sowing the rye, if it is more 

 convenient to have it thus, but where moisture is 

 deficient it would be necessary to plow the land 

 some time previously. When thus plowed, it should 

 be at once rolled with a heavy roller or packed with 

 a subsoil packer, as conditions might require. The 

 harrow should follow within a few days, and after 

 an interval one or more subsequent harrowings may 

 be necessary. Ground moisture sufficient to sprout 

 the rye can thus be arrested near the surface, 

 unless under conditions extremely adverse. In the 

 absence of enough moisture to sprout the rye, it 

 would be useless to sow it. Where a crop of peas 

 has just been removed from clean land, it is usually 

 not necessary to plow before sowing the rye. 

 Disking it once or twice will be found a suffi- 



