THE COMMON CEREALS. 175 



cient preparation when followed by more or less 

 harrowing. The second disking should be made so 

 as to cross the first. 



Sowing. The best time to sow rye for pasture 

 will depend upon the amount of moisture in the soil, 

 the severity of the winters, and the extent of the 

 pasturing that is sought. No good can come from 

 sowing the rye on a soil with insufficient moisture 

 to produce germination. If there should be only 

 moisture enough to start germination and not 

 enough to sustain it, the young plants must perish. 

 In some instances, therefore, it may be necessary to 

 defer sowing for several weeks after the ground has 

 been made ready. 



Where the winter climate is severe, the aim 

 should be to sow the rye sufficiently long before the 

 advent of winter to enable it to make a good growth 

 in the autumn. When the roots have a strong grip 

 on the soil, and when the "top growth" made is 

 sufficient to act as a mulch, the rye is enabled, espe- 

 cially in the absence of snow, to endure the rigors of 

 an open winter with much less injury than if the 

 plants entered the winter with but little of develop- 

 ment. Later sown winter rye ordinarily makes but 

 a feeble growth in the early spring, even though it 

 should not be seriously harmed by the cold of winter, 

 and it is in the early spring that rye pasture is espe- 

 cially valuable. 



If pasturing the rye in the autumn is an impor- 

 tant consideration, then, of course, the rye must be 

 sown early, as early as August in the northern 

 states, somewhat later in the central, and still later 

 in the southern. In the northern states and in 

 Canada, the aim should be to sow rye for pasture not 



