52 TEGETABLE SUBSTANCES. 



At present rye is cultivated by our farmers prin- 

 cipally that they may draw from it a supply of green 

 food for their flocks. For this purpose the plants, 

 which are sown in November, are eaten early in the 

 spring, before they begin to spindle, which they will 

 do towards the end of March. After this stage of 

 the growth has taken place, the succulent quality 

 of the blade is impaired; it becomes coarse and 

 harsh; and is no longer agreeable to animals. When 

 rye is left to ripen its seeds, these are, for the 

 most part, applied in this country to purposes dis- 

 tinct from human food; the principal use to which 

 the grain is put being the preparation of a vegetable 

 acid, to be employed by tanners in an operation 

 which they call raising, and whereby the pores of 

 the hides are distended, so as to dispose them the 

 more readily to imbibe the tanning principle of the 

 oak-bark, which is afterwards applied. Rye, when 

 parched and ground, has been recently used as a 

 substitute for coffee. It would be difficult, however, 

 to convince any one accustomed to the use of this 

 grateful beverage, that the grain of home production 

 is ever likely to take place, at least to any extent, of 

 the fragrant Mocha bean. 



Rye straw is useless as fodder, but 1 forms an ex- 

 cellent material for thatching, and is so suitable for 

 stuffing horse-collars, that saddlers will usually pay 

 for it a very good price. 



Botanists distinguish four species of this plant: 



.. 



Seeale villosum, 

 Secale orientale, 

 Secale creticum, and 

 Secale cereals ; 



the last only of which is cultivated in Britain. This, 

 which is said to be a native of Candia, was intro- 



