BARLEY AND IIYE. 185 



before reaching the stack. The severity of the beards 

 and the shortness of the straw made it almost impos- 

 sible to bind by hand. With the self-binder it is the 

 easiest and pleasantest of our cereal crops to bind. The 

 shocking is now the most unpleasant operation. 



Barley of as good color cannot be obtained when 

 the sheaves are bound as when they are left open, 

 chiefly because it is necessary to allow it to be longer 

 exposed to the weather before stacking. For malting 

 purposes, especially, barley should be thoroughly ripe 

 so that all the kernels will germinate at the same time. 



The barley plant is generally rather free from at- 

 tacks of plant diseases and insect enemies. 

 EYE. 



The cultivation of rye is not nearly so ancient as 

 that of wheat and barley. It was unknown to the 

 ancient Egyptians. The ancient Greeks did not know 

 it. Its introduction into the Roman Empire was hardly 

 earlier than the Christian era. The origin of its 

 cultivation is supposed to be Northeastern Europe. 



Within modern times rye was formerly a more im- 

 portant crop. Even as late as the middle of the pres- 

 ent century rye was said to have formed the principal 

 sustenance of, at least, one-third the population of 

 Europe, this one-third inhabiting the northern half of 

 Europe, barley taking its place in the countries nearer 

 the Mediterranean. It was usually sown with wheat 

 and is yet to a large extent mixed with wheat in grind- 

 ing, and the [^resulting flour is called meslin. The 

 mixture of corn and rj'^e for bread was common in New 

 England. Relatively lye was formerly much more 

 important in England and the United States. 



Production, — The amount grown in the world is 



