MONOCOTYLEDONS 



267 



others (Fig. 263). It is extensively cultivated in Northern 

 Europe; and Russia is the greatest rye-producing country 

 in the world, producing more bushels of rye than the United 

 States produces bushels of wheat. The rye crop of the 

 United States is very small comparatively, being less than 

 one-twenty-fifth as large as the wheat crop, and less than 

 one-thirtieth as large as the oat crop. <Rye can grow in 

 regions too cold for wheat and on _______ __ 



soils too poor for any other grain; 

 in fact it does not thrive well in 

 rich soils. There are spring and 

 winter varieties. The latter is the 

 one chiefly cultivated, being sown 

 in the fall and harvested usually in 

 June. 



Barley. This is one of the most 

 ancient of cereals in cultivation; 

 and, as it grows wild in western 

 Asia, this is thought to be its 

 original home (Fig. 264). It grows 

 through a greater range of lati- 

 tude than any other cereal, its cul- 

 tivation extending from Iceland 

 and Norway to India. It demands 

 in general the well-prepared and 

 well - drained soil necessary for 

 wheat. Its growing period is 

 shorter than that of wheat, for 

 it is very common to sow it after 

 and to harvest it just before spring wheat. In the United 

 States the barley crop in 1899 was nearly three times as 

 great as that of rye, California producing more than one- 

 fourth of it, and Iowa, Minnesota, and Wisconsin following 

 in order. While barley is used in feeding, as grain, hay, 

 and straw, its most conspicuous use is by brewers in the 



