120 AMERICAN AGRICULTURE. 



neighbor. The owner claimed damages for supposed injury 

 by the team and plow, which it was agreed should be assessed 

 on examination after harvesting, when it appeared, that the 

 damaged part was the best of the whole field. An honest 

 English yeoman received several pounds from a liberal 

 squire, for alleged injury to his young grain from the tram- 

 pling of horses and hounds in hot chase after a fox ; but at 

 harvest he found the crop so much bencfitted by the operation 

 that he voluntarily returned the money. If the rye is luxuri- 

 ant, it may be fed both in the fall and spring. Early cutting 

 as in wheat produces more weight, larger measure and 

 whiter flour. What is intended for seed, must however be 

 allowed to ripen fully on the ground. 



DISEASES. -Rye is subject to fewer casualties than wheat. 

 Ergot or cockspuf frequently affects it. This fungus is dis- 

 covered not only on rye, but on other plants of the order 

 graminae. Several of these elongated, curved and brownish 

 spurs appear on a single head, and they are most frequent in 

 hot, wet seasons. They are poisonous both to man and 

 beast, and when eaten freely they have generated fatal epi- 

 demics in the community; and emaciation, debility and in 

 some cases death to animals consuming it. The sloughing 

 of the hoofs and horns of cattle has been attributed to ergot 

 in their grass and grain. Rust like that which affects the 

 wheat crop, and owing probably to the same causes, attacks 

 rye. When this happens it should be cut and harvested 

 without delay. 



Rye for Soiling is sometimes sown by those who wish late 

 forage in autumn and early in spring. For this purpose it 

 should be sown at the rate of 2 to 4 bushels per acre. If on 

 a fertile soil and not too closely pastured, it will bear a 

 good crop of grain; and in some cases when too rank, early 

 feeding will strengthen the stalk and increase the grain. 



BARLEY (Hordeum) 



Is a grain of extensive cultivation and great value. Like 

 wheat and rye, it is both a winter and spring grain, though 

 in this country it is almost universally sown in the spring. 

 There are six varieties, differing in no essential points and all 

 originating from the same source. Loudon says in choosing 

 for seed, " the best is that which is free from blackness at 

 the tail, and is of a pale lively yellow, intermixed with a bright 

 whitish cast ; and if the rind be a little shrivelled so much the 

 better, as it indicates thin skin. The husk of thick-rinded 



