GROWING GRAIN CROPS IN DRY AREAS 239 



ceeds better when simply drilled in amid the stubbles. 

 But the best crops of rye are grown on land that has 

 been cultivated or that has been summer-fallowed. 



Preparing the land. The preparation given to the 

 land when preparing it for rye is usually less perfect 

 than that given to it when preparing it for wheat. This 

 does not mean, however, that careful preparation of the 

 soil for rye will not be as abundantly repaid as it would 

 be in the case of wheat, but it does mean that rye will 

 grow better relatively than wheat under imperfect prepa- 

 ration of the soil. 



When rye is grown on summer-fallow land, the con- 

 ditions of preparation are virtually the same as for wheat 

 (see p. 218). The same may be said of it when it fol- 

 lows a cultivated crop, with the difference, however, that 

 after such a crop rye may be sown later than wheat. It 

 may usually be sown with safety after such cultivated 

 crops as corn and potatoes have been removed from the 

 land. 



When rye is sown early in the season, as early as, 

 say, June or July, in order to provide pasture for live 

 stock, the land is best prepared by plowing it the pre- 

 vious autumn. Before it is so plowed it may be a wise 

 plan to disc it. But when not so prepared it may be 

 plowed in the spring, especially in areas where the pre- 

 cipitation comes mainly during the period of growth in 

 the crops. 



Notwithstanding the hardiness of winter rye, it is 

 easily possible to sow it under conditions that invite 

 failure. These include: (1) sowing so late in the season 

 that the plants do not germinate at all, or if they do ger- 

 minate they are so delicate that stern winter weather 

 will destroy them ; (2) sowing winter rye on land in the 

 dry autumn that has not in it enough moisture to pro- 

 duce healthy germination or, indeed, any form of ger- 

 mination ; (3) sowing winter rye in the early spring. It 



