354 
Oil the St. John s- Day Rye. 
died away, and the plant had evidently commenced the process of 
spindling, so that its value for sheep-feed had apparently begun 
to decline. On the 15th of April about one-fifth of the culms of 
Cooper's early rye disclosed the top of the ear, and the average 
height was two feet. The colour was dark and rich. The rye 
sown next to this was the cominon rye, which now exhibited a 
most meagre and miserable appearance, there being very few 
leaves from one root, and those, too, of a light and sickly colour, 
and not above 5 or 6 inches in length ; next beyond this, came the 
Russian rye, with a fine, broad, dark-coloured, and healthy blade, 
but, as yet, not spindling. The fourth was the St. John's rye, 
healthy in appearance, but the blade less broad and less forward 
than that of the Russian rye. 
April 27. — The St. John's rye, sown on the 21st of June, was 
now about 22 inches in height, but it did not as yet disclose any 
ears. And another portion of it, which was sown on July 7th, 
was little behind it; the latter ground having been rather better 
manured, and more finely worked than the other, this near 
approach to equality may be in part accounted for from these 
circumstances. Some other St. .John's-day rye, which the author 
had sown on the 12th July on inferior, more chalky, and less 
highly manured land, was, on this day, about 16 inches in 
height, disclosing as yet no ear. The Tyrolese rye, sown 
on the 1 9th of September, by the side of two bouts of St. John's 
rye, was now, on the 1 7th of April, considerably more forward 
than the latter : the Russian rye, sown on the same day, was 
nearly, but not quite, equal to the Tyrolese : the Russian had 
rather an inferior soil. 
On the 7th of May the author exhibited at an agricultural 
show a sheaf of Cooper's early rye, sown on the 3rd of Septem- 
ber, and a sheaf of St. John's-day rye, sown on the 21st of June. 
They were nearly equal in height, being about 3 feet 6 inches 
high, the St. John's-day rye having rather the advantage in that 
respect ; but the Cooper's rye was then nearly full grown in 
height, ready to come into blossom, and the culms apparently 
would not have been eatable many days longer, while the St. 
John's-day rye had its ear scarcely developed, and, as its sub- 
sequent use showed, was destined nearly to double its then height, 
and to continue eatable for nearly a month longer. At the time 
of harvest. Cooper's early rye proved wofully deficient in grain, 
not yielding more than \0\ bushels per acre, which Mr. Cooper 
has informed me had also been the case in Essex, so that the 
seed must be dear this year; but otherwise was a good and even 
crop. The St. John's-day rye and Russian rye sown on the 3rd 
September were nearly equal to each other in bulk ; their produce 
in grain has not yet been proved. Tlie common rye was far 
inferior in bulk of produce to either of the other three sorts, and 
