31 
for food for beasts in this country, are also largely employed for 
food for man in the shape of oatmeal. The area in the United 
States devoted to this cereal in 1910 was 37,548,000 acres, upon 
which were produced 1,186,341,000 bushels. The world crop 
for the same year was 4,214, 727,01 000 bushels. Rye is not of 
before the Christian era. It was not known to the ancient 
Greeks, and probably originated in the countries north of the 
Danube. It was first mentioned in the Roman Empire by Pliny. 
It is extensively grown in central and northern Europe, and is 
almost the exclusive bread-stuff there. It is less nutritious 
than wheat, although next to it in this respect. The amount of 
this grain produced in the United States in 1910 was only about 
one eighth that of wheat, about 34,897,000 bushels, while the 
world crop was 1,668,937,000 bushels in the same year. Barley 
is found wild in western Asia, in Arabia, and to the south of the 
Caucasus. In ancient times it was a very important article of 
food. It was cultivated by the lake dwellers in eastern Switzer- 
and, was mentioned by Greek authors, and is found in the 
earliest Egyptian monuments. Of all the a this is suited 
to the pe range of climate. It is cultivated in Lapland, 
Norway and Iceland at 65° to 70° N. Lat., and in the Andes and 
Himalayas at 11,000 feet altitude. In the United States the 
barley crop in 1910 was 173,832,000 bushels, while the crop in 
the world was 1,383,192,000 bushels. Much of the supply is 
used for feeding animals, its chief use, however, being in the 
manufacture of fermented liquors, such as ale, beer, and porter. 
Corn, as it is commonly called in this country, but more 
properly Indian corn or maize, is of tropical American che 
perhaps a native of Colombia or Mexico. It is unknown in a 
ai state. As it is an annual plant, intolerant of ree it 
must have come from some open mountainous region. The 
early discoverers in this country found it almost universally 
cultivated by the Indians from the La Plata valley to the United 
States. It is found in the burial mounds and tombs of the 
Incas and in the catacombs of Peru. Its great antiquity is 
shown in its association with religious rites. In Mexico the 
