BARLEY AND BYE 



273 



11 



Oats are planted very early in the spring, and they 

 are harvested after wheat and before corn. In this way 

 work on the oat crop aids in filling in the time of farm 

 labor. This is an important consideration, and together 

 with the high food value of the crop, it makes the grow- 

 ing of oats, on the whole, 

 very popular. 



201 . Barley and Rye . 

 In the number of bushels 

 of the leading cereals 

 grown by American 

 farmers, barley follows 

 oats and rye follows bar- 

 ley. Barley and rye are 

 raised more extensively 

 in Europe than in the 

 United States. For many 

 centuries barley was the 

 chief bread-plant of the 

 world. This was true, 

 even as late as the six- 

 teenth century. It is 

 now largely used in the 

 making of malt for the manufacture of beer. In general 

 appearance and habit of growth barley resembles wheat, 

 but it is somewhat shorter, and its heads are more often 

 " bearded " with needle-like appendages. These append- 

 ages make the handling of the barley crop annoying, and 

 for this reason the United States Department of Agri- 

 culture has undertaken to " breed off " the needles. The 

 new beardless variety will probably soon take the place 

 of the older varieties. 



Russia produces one half of the world's rye crop. In 

 its general features rye resembles wheat. It is, however, 



1 I I 1 1 1 I 



RYE GRAINS. 



The divisions in the ruler are 

 inch. 



of an 



