756 



PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE. 



Part III. 



be sown sooner than April, and it advances so rapidly to maturity that it hardly affords 

 time for hoeing (if sown in rows) or harrowing and rolling. Wlien grass seeds or clover 

 are sown on the same ground, they are sown immediately after the wheat, and harrowed 

 in with a light harrow or rolled in. In this, and indeed, all other respects, the prepa- 

 ration of the soil and sowing of this grain is the same as for barley. 



4649. The produce of summer ivheat, both in grain and straw, is considerably less than 

 that of winter wheat; the straw is only fit for litter or inferior fodder ; the flour produced 

 by the grain is rather coarser and darker than that of common wheat. Of course this 

 sort of wheat cannot, as already observed, be recommended for general culture. 



3ect. II. Rye. Secale Cereale, L. Trian. Dig. L. and Gramineee, J. Sicgle, Fr. ; 

 Rogon, Ger. ; and Segale, Ital. (Jig. 554. ) 



4650. Rt/e, according to some, is a native of Crete ; but it is very 

 doubtful if it be found wild in any country. It has been cultivated 

 from time immemorial, and is considered as coming nearer in its 

 properties to wheat than any other grain. It is more common than 

 wheat on most parts of the continent ; being a more certain crop, 

 and one which requires less culture and manure. It is the bread 

 corn of Germany and Russia. In Britain it is now very little 

 grown ; being no longer a bread corn, and therefore of less value to 

 the farmer than barley, oats, or pease. 



4651. The'varieties of rye are not above two, known as winter and spring rye ; 

 but there is so little difference between them, that spring rye sown along with 

 winter rye can hardly be distinguished from it. 



4652. The soil for rye may be inferior to that chosen for wheat: 

 it will grow in dry sandy soils, and produce a tolerable crop, and on 

 the whole it may be considered as preferring sands to clays. The 

 preparation of the soil should be the same as for wheat. According ^^j 

 to Professor Thaer, rye abstracts 30 parts in a hundred of the nutri- 

 ment contained on the soil in which it is grown. 



4653. The climate for rye may be colder than for wheat ; but it is rather more injured 

 by rains during winter; and equally injured as wheat by moist weather during the 

 flowering season. 



4654. Rye is sown either in autumn or spring, and either broad-cast or in drills : two 

 bushels and a half is the usual allowance when it is sown broad-cast. As it vegetates 

 more slowly than wheat, it should be sown when the soil is dry : a wet soil being apt to 

 rot the grain before it has completely germinated. No pickling or other preparation 

 is given. 



4655. The after culture, harvesting, and threshing are the same as for wheat : and the 

 produce in grain is, under similar circumstances, equal in bulk : but in straw it is greater 

 in rye than in any other grain. Sir H. Davy found in 1000 parts of rye 61 parts of 

 starch and 5 parts of gluten. Professor Thaer says, rye is the most nourishing grain 

 next to wheat. It contains an aromatic substance, which appears to adhere more par- 

 ticularly to the husk ; since the agreeable taste and smell peculiar to rye-bread is not 

 found in that which is made from rye-flour that has passed through a very fine bolting- 

 cloth ; while the fragrance may be restored by a decoction of rye-bran in the warm water 

 used to make the dough. This substance, Thaer says, seems to facilitate digestion, and 

 has an action particularly refreshing and fortifying on the animal frame. 



4656. The use of rye is chiefly for bread, especially for gingerbread. It is also used in 

 the distilleries ; and the straw is used for the same purposes as that of wheat, excepting that 

 it is useless as fodder. Some prefer it for thatching and litter, and also for collar-mak - 

 ing; it is also employed in Dunstable work. Tanners are said to use it in some districts, 



4657. Rye is sometimes sown as a green crop, with a view of affording some keep for 

 sheep early in the spring ; and also for being ploughed in as manure ; but that husbandry 

 must be bad or unfortunate which requires recourse to either mode. In some districts 

 it is customary to sow the head-lands of wheat-fields with rye, which is said to keep poul-r 

 try from penetrating to the wheat. 



4658. Rye is subject to few diseases, and is even sown among wheat and round wheat- 

 fields, from an idea that it will keep off blight and mildew, as well as poultry. 



Sect. III. Rarley. Hordeum, L. Trian. Dig. L. and Gramineee, J. L'Orge, Fr. ; 

 Gerste, Ger. ; and Orzo, Ital. ; Ryg, Dan. and Swed. 



4659. Rarley, though less calculated for a bread-corn than rye, may be considered as 

 next in value to wheat in Britain. Of what country it is a native is unknown: some 

 assign it to Tartary, others to Siberia, and even Scotland has been mentioned. It has been 

 cultivated from the earliest antiquity, and was much in use among the Romans, both as 

 food for soldiers and horses. In Sweden and Lapland it is more cultivated than any 



