THE GENESEE FARMER. 



CULTTVAnON OF WINTEIl BAELEY. 



The soil most suitable tor barloy, is a good 

 stroiifj loam. If not natiii-ally rifli enough, it 

 slioiild of course be manured sulliciently to make 

 it so. It should bo well draiiu^l ; for land in- 

 clining to bo wet, and not sutliciently drained, 

 will not pay to grow barley. There are, no doubt, 

 a great niany manures that will answer the pur- 

 pose. Stable manure does very well ; so does one 

 or two good green crops plowed under, such as 

 red clover, rye, &c. Of course they should be 

 well rotted before the grain is sown. Oat stuble 

 is perhaps preferable to most other ground for 

 putting in fall barley, for various reasons, some of 

 which will be e.xpluined in their proper place. 



It is a very iinjiortant matter that the ground 

 should be thorougldy broken u]> and well prepared 

 by the last of August, in order that the barley 

 luay be sown as early as possible in September, if 

 seasonable, and if not seasonable, it should be put 

 in the first suitable weather, as a general rule, 

 (lat. 38°), we cannot sow too early in September ; 

 but when we lia\-e a very hot, dry season, it would 

 be better to Avait mitil about the 1st of October, 

 when the sun has not so much ])ower. It would 

 be advisable to sow then without waiting longer, 

 even if the ground is rather dry. The sun will not 

 be likely to hurt it after that time. 



There is ([nite a ditTereuce of opinion in regard 

 to the amount of seed sown to the acre. Two 

 bushels, perhaps, is as near right as we can come 

 at it ; and in this item we should be governed by 

 the time it is sown. For instance, one and three- 

 fourth bushels, or even one and a half bushe's, 

 sown early in September, will he equal to perhaps 

 two and a half sown in November, for the very 

 plain and palpable reason, that when sown early 

 it has a cliance to stool or spread out over the 

 ground, but when sown late, it has such a precari- 

 ous existence that it has no chance to spread be- 

 fore a great deal of it is thrown out by the frost, 

 and perishes. After sowing, the grain should be 

 harrowed, cross harrowed and rolled, the old 

 furrows opened, or others made wherever it 

 may be thought necessary, for it will not do for 

 water to stand on it. 



Barley has its casualties to encounter, as well as 

 wheat and other grain. If sown before the 1st of 

 September, there will be danger of its coming to a 

 joint before the hard weather of winter comes on, 

 and it may be ruined ; but sown about the 1st of 

 September, there is not much danger in that par- 

 ticular. It is true the insects, &c., may injure it 

 more or less, yet all the injuries it is likely to 

 sustain from those causes are not to be compared 

 to the injuries received by the late sowing, froni 

 severe weather and other casualties. 



The reasons why oat stubble is preferable, are 

 that it is easier broken up, .and we can make a far 

 better job of it than we could with wheat stubble, 

 or other ground that had lain twelve months 

 without being jdowed. But the most important 

 advantage of all is that, when the barley is put in 

 about the first of Septemlier, all the scattering 

 grains of oats that are in the ground start and 

 prow up with the barley, thereby helping to cover 

 the surface of the whole field before the hard 

 "jeather seta in ; and when that does occur, the 



barley will be so firmly rooted and matted over 

 the surface, that it will not sutTer much by the 

 Aveather. The hard weather will of course kill 

 the oats, and in the spring the barley will have all 

 the surface to itself, and a good start. j. l. k. 



Jeffarson. Co., Ky., Dec, 1S58. 



RYE AND ITS CULTIVATION. 



In 1856, the rye crop of the United States was 

 estimated at 30,000,000 bushels, of which Pennsyl- 

 vania i)roduced about 12,000,000 — being nearly 

 one half raised in the Union. It Is also grown on 

 the light lands of Ohio and Michigan. One of its 

 advantages is the fine straw it funiishes for litter, 

 thatching, and other i)urposes. In Pennsylvania, 

 a large projjortion was formerly used for distilla- 

 tion. In New Jersey and the Eastern States, most 

 of the rye is ajiprojjriatcd to the more legitimate 

 purpose of making bi-ead. In the New England 

 States it is second to the corn crop, and with that, 

 entei-s largely into consuption as " rye and Indian" 

 bread, — the real "staff of life" to thousands of 

 the inhabitants. 



Rye is very extensively cultivated in Europe ; 

 in Great Britain to a limited extent; but on the 

 continent, and especially the northern portion, 

 very largely, forming, as it does, the principal part 

 of the bread of the jjcople. 



Rye succeeds best on rich, sandy loam. It pre- 

 fers a light, dry soil, and will grow freely on light 

 sands ;md gravels, where oats and barley faii. The 

 strong clays in which wheat delights, seldom pro- 

 duce good crops of rye, as in such soils there is too 

 much water; though loamy soils, on which wheat 

 lodges, will sometimes produce a good crop of i-ye, 

 its stronger stem enabling it to sustain itself under 

 its luxuriant growth. 



It has been remarked that four crops of rye do 

 not exhaust the soil as mucii as three of wheat ; 

 and a successful cultivator of this crop gives a.s 

 his experience, that when rye has been cultivated 

 for a term of years upon the same land, and early 

 clover sown upon it in spring and plowed in with 

 the stubble in autumn at tlie time of sowing the 

 next crop, the land, without any other application, 

 has been kept in a gradual course of improvement 

 and the yield of rye continually increase. This 

 accords with my own experience ; but from ex- 

 periments made on my own farm, and others by 

 my suggestion, I believe it much better to let the 

 clover remain the second year before plowing un- 

 der, as then it is more mature, furnishing a larger 

 amount of green manure in a better condition for 

 improving the luid. 



The prei)aration of the soil for rye is the same 

 as for wheat ; but as it is a less exhausting crop, 

 poorer soils may be employed. Pasture land or 

 meadow, turned over deei)ly in the ftdl or early 

 spring, and liarrowed, or, what is better, worked 

 tine with the gang plow or cultivator during the 

 summer, will ensure a good cro]). Many farmers 

 are opposed to the application of fresh barn-yard 

 manure to land intended for this crop, prefering 

 short manure, or that it should follow .some other 

 crop that has been manured. 



Rye is generally sown in the autumn, throug';- 

 out the Middle and Western States and par*^ ul 

 New England, but in this Northern region, in 



