THE ESSENTIALS OF AGRICULTURE 



216. Growth and use. Barley is sown and harvested in very 

 much the same manner as oats except that the land is usually 

 plowed for barley. Two bushels of seed to the acre is the usual 

 rate of seeding. The seed should be graded carefully and sown 

 with a drill, in order that the grain may ripen uniformly and be 

 of the best quality. The cap sheaves are threshed separately from 

 the rest of the bundles, for the presence of a small per cent of 

 weather-stained kernels may cause a cut of from three to six 

 cents a bushel in the price of the grain. 



As feed, barley may be said to stand between oats and corn, 

 being somewhat less valuable than corn for fattening purposes 

 and not quite equal to oats for growing animals, but superior to 

 oats for fattening and superior to corn for the growing animal. 



IV. RYE 



217. Cultivation and use. Rye is a crop of minor importance 

 in the United States, only one bushel of rye being grown for 

 every twenty bushels of wheat. Rye, however, stands next to 

 wheat as a bread grain. In the world's production about one 

 half as many bushels of rye as of wheat are grown. In some 

 important countries, for example Germany and Austria, it is the 

 principal cereal, and more than twice as much rye as wheat 

 is produced. 



Most of the rye produced in the United States is grown in 

 Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, New York, and Minnesota. 

 It is more hardy than wheat, and this is one of the principal 

 reasons for growing the crop. The methods of culture for rye 

 are the same as for wheat. In most countries rye is used to 

 some extent for bread, and in some countries it is a staple article 

 of diet. It is extensively used in the manufacture of fermented 

 liquors and as a food for stock. When ground and fed in 

 quantities not exceeding two or three pounds daily in connection 

 with oats or barley, it makes a most satisfactory horse feed. For 

 hogs it is the equal of barley. When fed to milk cows, rye is 

 believed to impart a bitter flavor to the milk. 



