RYE. 



ommended ; and if the rye is sown 

 very farly in aiitiuiin, it may be fed 

 oil' in Octoher and November, wlien 

 sheep feed is beginning to fail, with- 

 out any detriment to the succeeding 

 spring produce. 



" Winter barley and winter oats 

 have been substituted for rye as 

 spring fodders Ijy some farmers ; but 

 on land of moderate quality rye is 

 generally preferred. It bears the se- 

 verest winters, which is not the case 

 with barley or oats. The rye which 

 has been fed off very early may be 

 allowed to remain for seed, which it 

 will produce more or less abundantly, 

 according as it has been fed off ear- 

 lier or later. 



" The preparation of the land for 

 rye is the same as for wheat, except 

 that in very light soils no more 

 ploughings are required than will 

 clear the ground of weeds. If rye is 

 sown after harvest, one ploughing 

 only is usually given. It will thrive 

 upon rich wheat soils, as well as 

 upon lighter, and, as it throws out 

 numerous stems in rich land, it is the 

 more profitable as fodder, although 

 the crop of grain might not be so 

 abundant when the plants are too 

 much crowded. To have as much 

 green food as possible, the rye is al- 

 ways sown broad-cast, three bushels 

 at least to an acre ; some sow a sack, 

 and with advantage. 



" There is a variety of rye men- 

 tioned by continental authors by the 

 name of Seiglc dc la St. Jean, or St. 

 John's-day rye, because it grows so 

 rapidly that, if sown about St. John's 

 day (24th of June), it will be fit to 

 mow green by the middle of Septem- 

 ber, and in favourable seasons may 

 be fed off again in November, with- 

 out preventing its giving ainple feed 

 in spring, and a good crop of grain 

 at the next harvest. It might be ad- 

 vantageous to introduce this variety. 

 There is no doubt that there are va- 

 rieties of the same kind of jdants 

 which have a much more vigorous 

 vegetation than those commonly cul- 

 tivated, and the introduction of them 

 where they are not known is an im- 

 portant benefit to agriculture. The 

 678 



I celebrated agriculturist Du Hamel du 

 Monceau mentions an individual who 

 had obtained, from one sowing, five 

 abundant cuts of green rye for cattle 

 in two years. If any green plant is 

 cut down before the fructification is 

 completed, it will, in general, throw 

 out fresh stems ; and in very rich 

 soils its blossoming may thus be con- 

 tinually retarded until the roots be- 

 coiTic too weak to force successive 

 stems. 



" Although the value of rye as a 

 green crop is fully admitted, very lit- 

 tle is grown for food ; yet on some 

 poor soils, where wheat and barley 

 are now often sown with a very poor 

 return, and at a great expense of 

 manure, rye and buckwheat would 

 give a much greater clear profit, and 

 would require much less manuring : 

 and where there are not ready means 

 of improving the soil by claying or 

 marling, the cultivation of rye would 

 be found most advantageous ; and, 

 by means of sheep, very poor sandy 

 soils might thus be made profitable. 

 The grains of rye from the distilleries 

 are excellent food for milch cows and 

 hogs, which fatten readily on them. 



" Rye is subject to most of the dis- 

 eases which attack the plants of the 

 family of the Graminca:, such as rust, 

 mildew, burned ear, and smut-ball. 

 But there is one remarkable disease, 

 which, although it is sometimes found 

 in wheat, is much more commonly 

 observed in rye. It is called the 

 ergot, the French name of a cock's 

 spur, which the diseased grain re- 

 sembles in shape. By some perver- 

 sion of the vital functions of the 

 plant, the embryo, or germen, instead 

 of growing into a regular seed filled 

 with farina, shoots out a long black 

 fungus-like substance, several times 

 the length of a common seed, which 

 rises above the chaff, and has the 

 appearance of a slender pyramid, 

 slightly bent on one side. This sub- 

 stance is soft and easily broken or 

 cut, and is uniform in its internal tex- 

 ture, without any husk or skin over 

 it. If it were merely the loss of the 

 grain of which the ergot takes the 

 place, the mischief occasioned by 



