GROWING GRAIN CROPS IN DRY AREAS 243 



portion as the season for growth is longer in the former 

 than in the latter. The rye crop, like the wheat crop, may 

 also call for discing rather than harrowing in the spring- 

 time, because of the impaction of the land. The same 

 may be true of the crop while it is being grazed. 



When sown early for grazing, the grazing should 

 be close, or the rye may tend to exhaust itself and also 

 to draw too heavily on the moisture in the soil. When 

 sown in the fall season at the usual time for furnishing 

 grain, there are instances in which the crop may be hurt 

 by leaf rust if left ungrazed. But when sown late the 

 crop will produce more grain, as a rule, when not grazed 

 either autumn or spring. In the semi-arid country, rye 

 should not be grazed with undue severity when a grain 

 crop is to be obtained from it, nor should spring-sown rye, 

 as a rule, be grazed when it is to produce a crop of grain. 

 Close grazing in the spring will materially prolong the 

 season of pasturing, as it tends to prevent the formation 

 of heads. 



Harvesting. Rye is ready for harvesting when the 

 stems turn yellow for, say, 9 to 12 inches below the 

 head. While it is greatly important that it shall be 

 promptly harvested to prevent scattering seed that may 

 volunteer later, it will not take injury so readily as wheat 

 from deferred harvesting, as it does not shell so readily 

 as some kinds of wheat, nor does the straw break down 

 so readily. 



On small areas it is usually cut with the grain har- 

 vester and cured in round shocks in the field. In large 

 areas it may be headed like wheat. In sufficiently large 

 areas the combined header and thresher would be the 

 proper implement to use, but it is seldom grown on a 

 scale so extensive as to justify this method of harvesting. 



It may be threshed as wheat (see p. 233). It is sel- 

 dom or never fed in the sheaf when grown alone. The 

 grain, judiciously fed, makes excellent food for all classes 



