THE SMALL GRAINS. 21 



disrepute as a staple crop, as the tobacco culture was found 

 to pay a great deal better. For more than a hundred years 

 after it was but little cultivated in that colony. Wheat was 

 early cultivated by the Dutch colony of the New Netherlands, 

 for it is recorded that in 1626 samples of that grain were 

 taken to Holland to show what could be done in the new 

 country. It is probable that the Plymouth colony began its 

 culture within two or three years of the settlement, though 

 there appears to be no distinct record of it until 1629, when 

 wheat and other grains for seed were ordered from England. 



But though the cultivation of wheat was begun almost 

 simultaneously with the settlement of the several colonies, it 

 did not attract very great attention for more than a century, 

 Indian corn and, later, potatoes being relied upon for food to a 

 much greater extent. It was soon found to be subject to 

 blast and mildew in the eastern colonies. In July of 1663 

 "the best wheat," according to an old manuscript diary that 

 I have consulted, "as also some other grain, was blasted in 

 many places so that whole acres were not worth reaping. We 

 have had much drought the last summer, and excess of wet 

 several other springs, but this of blaoting is the most general 

 and remarkable that I yet heard of in New England." But it 

 was "heard of" often after that, and to such an extent that 

 it never became a very prominent crop in that part of the 

 country. It is a matter of history that there never was a 

 time in the eastern colonies when it was a sure and reliable 

 crop, unless it be so now with our improved modes of tillage, 

 deep ploughing, and thorough drainage. 



RYE AND BARLEY. 



Rye and barley were also introduced and cultivated by the 

 early settlers, and it soon became the almost universal practice 

 to mix the meal of the former with Indian meal in the mak- 

 ing of bread. It is known to have been the custom as early 

 as 1648, and probably it began at a considerably earlier date, 

 perhaps as early as 1630. Oats were also introduced at the 

 same time with rye. Captain Gosnold raised them with other 

 grains on one of the Elizabeth Islands, on the southern coast 

 of Massachusetts, in 1602. Though much more extensively 

 grown than rye, they appear to have been used chiefly as food 



