OUR WORN SOILS 79 



And for this plant as an organic producer, he has 

 none but the highest praise. It can be sown in 

 the fall in corn or in the open, at a cost of less than 

 two dollars per acre for seed, and the labor re- 

 quired to sow it is hardly worthy of consideration, 

 for the farmer, generally, is not pushed with his 

 work at this season. It quickly grows to sufficient 

 size to furnish the finest cover crop for winter 

 and spring, thus giving the great advantage ob- 

 tained to the soil by the use of a cover crop. Then 

 it quickly springs up to sufficient height in the 

 spring for plowing under in time for the planting 

 of the corn crop. It fills the soil for a depth of 

 eight or nine inches with a splendid root system 

 containing an immense amount of organic matter, 

 rendering the soil loose or friable. If the farmer 

 thinks he must pasture his stock fields, or is in 

 sore need of pasture that he can not supply else- 

 where, the author knows of no plant grown on the 

 farm that will produce fall, winter and spring 

 pasture quicker and so abundantly as rye. And 

 yet, in spite of any severe pasturing you may give 

 it, its large root system will give an abundance 

 of organic matter for the soil. And the best char- 

 acteristic of the rye plant is its ability to grow, 

 flourish, and produce abundantly in any soil, no 

 matter how poor, without aids or stimulants. It 

 is truly the best and cheapest green manuring 

 crop for the farm, and yet one of the least appre- 

 ciated and understood by the farmer. The author 

 speaks thus of rye, after years of careful experi- 

 ence with it upon his own land and land he has 

 rented, and careful observation of the experiences 

 of other farmers with the plant. 



