RYE 



RYE 



367 



on the corn hills, and so escape in- 

 jury from frost : At least the) will 

 most commonly escape, or so many 

 of them as are necessary to give a 

 good crop. The plants that are 

 killed will be those in the low 

 spaces between the hills. 



Sandy and gravelly soils are most 

 suitable for rye. It commonly 

 prospers much l)etter on such, than 

 on richer soils : The principal rea- 

 son of which may be its ripening 

 earlier, and so escaping the blight. 

 Weak land has strength enough to 

 produce rye, and it does not ex- 

 haust the soil so much as other 

 corn. 



I have known the same spot 

 produce twenty crops of this grain 

 in succession, (excepting that it 

 was planted with Indian corn once 

 or twice, to subdue the weeds) the 

 crops yearly increasing, instead of 

 diminishing. The right method is, 

 to plough in the stubble as soon as 

 the crop is off; and in a fortnight 

 or three weeks, according as wea- 

 ther and circumstances favour, 

 cross plough the ground, and sow 

 the seed. The stubble, so early 

 buried in the soil, serves as a ma- 

 nure. It will need no dung. 



It is said by some writers, that 

 sowing rye two or three years on 

 a warm dry soil, it will be forward- 

 ed, so as to ripen a month earlier 

 than that which has been long cul- 

 tivated in other soils. This ought 

 to be attended to by farmers in 

 this country, where grain that 

 ripens late, is so apt to be blasted. 

 But this observation, possibly, may 

 not be founded in truth. 



The quantity of seed to be sow- 

 ed, is recommended by some, to be 



two bushels per acre. But when 

 the grain is small, five or six pecks 

 fnay be a sufhcient quantity. For 

 the smaller the gram the greater 

 the number of seeds. 



The sign.ij of ripeness arc, the 

 yellow colour of the straw, the 

 hanging of the ears, and the hard- 

 ness of the grain. But some choo>e 

 to cut it when in the n.ilk, because 

 the flour will be whiter. The 

 quantity, however, will be less, un- 

 less it lie a good while on the 

 ground to ripen, whirh it ma} safe- 

 ly do in good weather, if care be 

 taken to keep the top ends from 

 the ground. Winter rye is s(jnie 

 times fit to harvest by the middle 

 of July even in the northern parts 

 of New-England : Spring rye is al- 

 ways later. 



Some recommend sowing winter 

 rye for grazing and fodder. It af- 

 fords very early feed for cattle in 

 the spring. Or it may be mowed 

 for hay two or three times in a 

 summer. In countries that are dry, 

 and do not naturally produce much 

 grass, this may be considered as a 

 good piece of husbandry. 



Spring rye may be sowed very 

 late in the fall at first, and a little 

 earlier each succeeding year, until 

 it may even be sown the May pre- 

 ceding the year in which it is har- 

 vested, and used the first season for 

 pasturing or mowing. And winter 

 rye may be sowed later and later 

 each fall, and at length sowed in 

 the spring, when it will become 

 Spring lye. 



The Farmer^s Assistant recom- 

 mends sowing winter rye and 

 spring rye alternately, in order that 

 the ground might every other year 



