EYE MEAL CHEMISTRY OF. 185 



contains a slightly acid substance, that imparts the pe- 

 culiar flavour to rye bread, and renders it fresh and 

 agreeable to the palate. The bran also contains a much 

 higher proportion of the nitrogen compounds than the 

 flour when entirely separated from it consequently, for 

 both these reasons, it is always desirable to grind up as 

 much as possible of the bran with the meal for food pur- 

 poses, so that its valuable properties may not be lost. 

 This is practically well known, and carefully observed in 

 the rye-consuming countries of the Continent, where the 

 meal is not dressed at all, but simply ground up, and 

 used in that state, bran and all, in the form of a coarse, 

 dark-coloured, but nutritious and palatable bread. 



THE CANARY SEED CROP. 



ANOTHER member of the great and important family of 

 the grasses (order Graminese) is cultivated for its seed to 

 a considerable extent, though its cultivation is confined 

 entirely to a very limited district in the southern parts of 

 the country. This is the Phalaris canariensis, or CANARY 

 (GRASS) SEED, which is grown almost exclusively on the rich 

 soils of the isles of Thanet and Sheppey, and of the opposite 

 coast of Essex, entering as a straw crop into the regular 

 rotations, and in some seasons producing very remunera- 

 tive returns. In its early growth it closely resembles the 

 cereal plants; as it approaches maturity, however, it is 

 readily distinguished from them, and assumes more the 

 appearance of the Phleum genus (Timothy grass), to which, 

 indeed, it is more closely allied. This cultivated species 

 is an annual, naturally inhabiting the Canary Isles, to 

 which it owes its common name. Another species, the 

 P. arundinacea, is the " reed canary grass," so commonly 



