1867. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



407 



tember is a good time for this work, but not 

 quite as favorable as in August. Where the 

 object is to keep land in grass, rather than in 

 hoed crops, the sward may be turned over and 

 seeded directly with perfect success, if the 

 work is properly done. 



Very many other things belong to Septem- 

 ber work which the systematic farmer will not 

 neglect. 



A "WINTER EYE CROP. 



"Thresh seed, .^nd to fanning, September doth cry, 

 Gtet plough to the tield, and be sowing of rye ; 

 To harrow the ridges, ere ever ye strike'*; 

 Is one piece of husbandry the farmer doth like." 



One of the most important items of farm 

 work for Septeniper is to get in the rye crop. 

 Some persons do it late in August, but it is 

 generally done in September. We say it is 

 an important work, because we believe that ten 

 times as much rye flour ought to be used in the 

 family as there now is — and the same amount 

 of bleached, bewitched and highly- manufac- 

 tured wheat flour discontinued. No sweeter 

 or better bread ever passes our lips than that 

 made of rye flour. In warm biscuit for breakfast 

 it is unsurpassed, and for invalids, a pudding 

 made of it is grateful to the <aste, easy of di- 

 gestion and nutritious. It has a remarkable 

 muscle-making power. 



Rye is adapted to nearly all our sandy lands, 

 — the pine plain lands which exist all over 

 New England. Such land is easily worked, 

 and when generously treated gives bountiful 

 returns of this valuable crop. The richer the 

 land, however, the more vigorous and luxuri- 

 ant the crop will be. It is the only grain, we 

 believe, that will flourish on land that contains 

 eighty-five parts in a hundred of sand. It is 

 a common practice to crop rich land until it is 

 exhausted, and then let it repose for some 

 years, when it will collect sufficient nutrition to 

 enable it to bear a crop of rye, which, how- 

 ever, will be likely to be a poor one. Would 

 it not be better, — would there not be a larger 

 amount of grain secured, by cultivating less 

 land, and manuring it a little, and thus save 

 ^■he labor of plowing and working so much ? 



Early-sown rye may be fed, says the Coun- 

 try Gentleman, with sheep or calves, during 

 the month of November, with great benefit to 

 tlie stock, and if the growth is large, with de- 

 cided benefit to the crop, as a large quantity 

 of herbage, lying on the ground in the winter, 

 renders the crop liable to be "smothered," as 



it is called, especially if it is covered long with 

 snow. No injury results from feeding rye 

 with sheep or light cattle, any time in winter, 

 except when the ground is so soft that it would 

 be "poached," and the roots of the rye be 

 broken, and there is no food better for such 

 animals." 



Spring rye and winter rye, are not distin- 

 guished by any botanical characteristics, but 

 simply by a property which has been artificially 

 communicated to it, and of which it may be 

 deprived by a change in the mode of cultiva- 

 tion ; viz., that of coming more quickly to ear. 

 Spring wheat is often made to become au- 

 tumnal or winter wheat. Winter rye has some 

 properties peculiar to itself; it remains longer 

 in the ground than spring rye, grows more 

 bushy, and does not put forth its stems or 

 seed stalks until late in the season. 



Winter rye, sown in the spring for several 

 successive seasons would probably acquire all 

 the characteristics of a spring rye, and vice 

 versa. It would be the same with wheat. 



Early in September — the earlier the better 

 — is a good time to get in a crop of rye. Its 

 use as food for the table is becoming more 

 fashionable, and it will tend to health and ac- 

 tivity. It is cheaper than wheat flour, and the 

 straw is always in quick demand at high prices ; 

 besides these recommendations, it is one of 

 the surest crops we can cultivate. Get in the 

 rye crop, then, on land that has not been ex- 

 hausted, and as much profit from it will be re- 

 alized as from any of the green crops of the 

 farm. 



*Striking is the last plowing before the seed la 

 town, aad the poet wants the ridges harrowed dows 

 before that plowing takes place. 



"Good Wine Needs no Bush." — This is 

 an old proverb, and means that it needs noth- 

 ing to point out where it is sold, because it 

 was an ancient custom to hang up a bush, or 

 vine, where wine was sold. 



In a book called "Greene's Conceipt" 1598, 

 it is said, "Good wine needs no Ivie Bush." 



In "England's Parnassus," London, 1600, 

 the first line to the reader runs thus : "I hang 

 no Ivie out to sell my wine." 



In Vaughan's "Golden Grove," London, 

 1608, is the following passage : "Like as an Ivy 

 Bush put forth at a vintrie, is not the cause of 

 wine, but is a Signe that wine is to be sold 

 there." 



