No. 144.] 39 



the sandy soil of the Rhine and its affluents. It is sown in August 

 and harvested in July next succeeding season. You can see 

 fields of it on the slopes of the Jura, and even in the Alpine 

 regions. The same mode of culture will hold with regard to it 

 as the last preceding crop. There are varieties of this grain sown 

 in spring, but the return is greatly inferior to the winter variety. 



The many-stalked rye (secale multicaulis) has found its way 

 into Switzerland and Wurtemburg. In both countries it is sown 

 either with spring rye or oats, and when they are harvested it is 

 mown down in August for fodder to be given to neat cattle, more 

 particularly milch cows, which is said to add greatly to the quan- 

 tity and quality of the udder. This kind of rye yields a fine crop 

 the next year, and is harvested about the same time as the other 

 kind. 



Spelt, or German Wheat, (Triticum spelta) is quite common in 

 parts of the confederation. The red variety is preferred. It is 

 less delicate than wheat, and can resist frost and its natural 

 enemies better than many other cereals. It thrives best in a rich 

 porous soil, and it is very often mingled with rye, hence the opera- 

 tion of sowing is alike. The seed ought not, in northern Switzer- 

 land, to be deposited in the ground later than the first of autumn 

 The spelt field ought to be rolled the next spring, kept free from 

 surface water, and to prevent lodging should be grazed. The 

 Swiss make a gruel and soup from this grain. 



The farmers have among them another variety called the Little 

 Spelt, that grows on poor stony or gravelly soils. The straw is a 

 first rate article to tie up grape vines. 



The common or two-rowed Barley is grown to a very limited 

 extent in this country. The Swiss Cantons have but very little 

 barley lands. Though much is used in the country for malting, 

 the demand is supplied from the neighboring States. I have seen 

 ■a few fields of the six-rowed barley, but the former kind has come 

 more generally into use. As grain for bread it is here seldomi 

 cultivated. Barley is generally sown after naked fallow or some 

 green crop. A farmer would be very content to raise 35 bushels 

 on an acre. 



