152 RURAL CALIFORNIA 



rye. In fact, the government in its enumeration of 

 staple crops excludes California from even casual 

 mention in the rye category. Eye is a good winter 

 grower and is raised for winter pasturage and cut- 

 ting green or for plowing under as green-manure, 

 all of which services it renders better than other 

 grains in rather trying places. Eye is also grown in a 

 small way for grain on lands which have become 

 weary for both wheat and barley and occasionally a 

 cargo of rye is shipped to Europe, as the local de- 

 mand for rye flour is limited. 



Buckwheat is even nearer the vanishing point than 

 rye, in part due to its demand for frost freedom and 

 requirement of rich mellow ground which can usually 

 be employed to better advantage by other plants. 

 The demand for buckwheat is almost negligible and 

 buckwheat cakes are displaced by wheat cakes which 

 are considered less heating to the blood. Buckwheat 

 is grown to some extent as a maintenance ration for 

 bees and as a summer-grown green-manure plant to 

 supplement clovers and other legumes which are 

 largely winter-grown in California valleys. 



SEED-GROWING AND TRUCK CROPS 



In the gold rush of 1849, many argonauts brought 

 the very best seeds from their home regions in the 

 older states for trial in the new country and se- 

 cured later acquisitions by mail. Pioneers from all 

 foreign countries also introduced seeds of the best 

 home plants. As early as 1852 there were collected 

 in California, in this way, a great variety of seed- 



