278 CHAPTER XVI 



is grown chiefly for grazing, or as a soiling crop, and occasion- 

 ally, of course, for grain. 



Production. — Nearly 90 per cent, of the world's crop is 

 produced in Europe, as the following table indicates : — 



Average for Three Years (191-2-14). 

 Europe 1,751,787,333 bushels. 



North America 



Asia 



South America 

 Australasia 



42,259,66(3 



33,928,000 



1,892,000 



174,666 



In Europe rye is of about the same importance as is wheat, 

 but in Kussia and Germany more of the former is grown than 

 the latter. Production in the Union is confined chiefly to the 

 Cape Province, where approximately 80 per cent, of the Union's 

 yield is obtained. A fair amount is grown in the eastern dis- 

 tricts of the Orange Free State, but little is cultivated in the 

 Transvaal and Natal. 



In 1911 the Union produced 675,700 bushels and in 1918 

 830,700 bushels. However, more rye is grown in South Africa 

 than is indicated by the above figures, since a considerable 

 acreage is not allowed to mature, being pastured and then 

 ploughed down. 



Origin and Description. — De Condolle states that while 

 rye was known to Pliny, its cultivation when compared with 

 wheat is of comparatively recent times. 



Eye (Secale cereale) is one of the hardiest and yet one of 

 the least grown of the cereals in the Union. The fact that if 

 closely pastured it may be induced to live over a second winter, 

 shows it to have a tendency towards a perennial form. It is 

 supposed to have originated from Secale montanum anatolicum, 

 a perennial sub-species and native of Western Asia. Unlike 

 wheat, it normally cross-fertilises and all the flowers are fertile. 

 It usually grows much taller than wheat, the stems are thinner, 

 and the first leaf sheath which comes above the ground is of a 

 purplish red colour which distinguishes it from other cereals at 

 this stage. 



The grain of rye is usually white to grey-greenish in colour, 

 more slender than wheat, not so smooth, with a shallower 



