172 THE RYE CROP. 



rich soils ; neither of them succeeding so well on the soils 

 suitable for the other as on their own. For this reason 

 rye is such a valuable crop for the poor and unmanured 

 soils of the higher and northern countries of the Continent, 

 on all of which it is extensively cultivated. Many of our 

 earlier writers speak of it as entering commonly into the 

 farm rotations of their day, when a large proportion of 

 the strong soils of the country were not thought to be 

 susceptible of tillage operations, and were left down in 

 natural pasture. It is now chiefly confined to the poor 

 soils of the districts west and north-west of the metropolis, 

 where a large and remunerative demand always exists for 

 the straw for brickmaking purposes, and to very limited 

 districts in different parts of the country. The " Ryelands" 

 of Herefordshire took their name originally from the rye 

 which was cultivated there to a large extent a name now 

 hardly known, except as applied to a peculiar breed of 

 sheep, which itself has nearly entirely disappeared, even 

 from its native district, owing to the introduction of new 

 and improved breeds. 



There is but little doubt, however, that many of the 

 poor gravelly soils which we see carrying a scanty crop 

 of wheat would give a far more remunerative return if 

 sown with rye ; and although rye is inferior to wheat as 

 a bread-grain, and fetches a lower price in the market, 

 the real amount of food suitable for horses or cattle that 

 would thus be produced would be greatly increased. 



In this country there is a strange prejudice against the 

 use of rye as a horse-corn. On the Continent it is every- 

 where largely used for that purpose, either in a crude 

 state as grain, or in a cooked shape as bread. Nothing is 

 more common than to see the driver cutting a slice for 

 himself off his horse's loaf, which is often not much coarser 

 in quality than the dark - coloured "pumpernickel" he 

 himself is accustomed to eat for his daily meal. Although 



