THE SOUTHERN CULTIVATOR, 
13i 
which has been sown broadcast, because it 
shoots up more evenly and equally. But as 
the kind of temperature which will succeed to 
the sowings cannot be foreseen, it is always 
most prudent to have recourse to the harrow, 
unless the seed is to De buried by passing the 
extirpator superficially over the ground, which 
mode of proceeding is certainly preferable to 
any other. 
In our clirnate, the best time for getting the 
seed into the ground is somewhere between the 
middle of September and the middle of October. 
In some countries, however, the rye is sowm in 
the open field during the whole of the winter, 
and even up to the end of February, and at 
times with great success. This is done to ena- 
ble it to benefit by the ameliorations bestowed 
on the land in the winter. 
Many impartial observers assert that the la- 
test sowings are those which can be most de- 
pended upon; but, on the Other hand, the crops 
are never so large as those obtained from ear- 
lier sowings where they do succeed. The w'orst 
period lor gelling the seed into the ground is 
from the middle of October to the middle of No- 
vember. But the bushy rye, of which I have 
already made mention, must always be sown 
early in the year; it can scarcely be got into 
the ground too soon. I have even sown it in the 
middle of June without its coming up that year. 
When not sown till October, it grows very feebly; 
and i‘s lateral shoots being behindhand when 
the ears begin to form, remain poor and weak. 
From eighteen to twenty metzen of rye are 
generally sown per acre. When bushy rye is 
sown in August, or about the beginning of 
September, from twelve to fourteen meizen of 
seed will be quite sufficient, if it is sown evenly 
and regularly. It grows so full and luxurianilv 
that three-fourths of the plants are choked, and 
but one-fourth remain. In the spring the fields 
often look so clear that those farmers who are 
not accustomed to this grain blame themselves 
for having been too stingy with their seed. 
But it would have been just the same if they 
had sown it more thickly, for in the autumn the 
plants increase and grow so full that they push 
against each other ; each one puts forth ten or 
twelve blades or more, and, provided the soil is 
rich and the weather favorable, the whole field 
appears closely covered with a luxuriant crop. 
As this kind of rye comes up, and puts forth its 
leaves and shoots much later than any other, it 
often, in May, appears to be very much behind 
other crops in point of vegetation, but before 
June is over it has far surpassed them. 
Rye crops are equally as much benefitted as 
wheat by being harrowed in the spring, espe- 
cially where a hard crust has formed over the 
surface of the soil : but this tillage or cultiva- 
tion is never bestowed on it. Harrowing is ex- 
ceedingly beneficial to rye, even where the soil 
is of a very sandy nature; but in these cases the 
cvperation must be performed with light wooden 
barrows, and not until the plants have put forth 
their strong roots. Where these latter have 
been torn up by frost, especially from a spongy 
soil, or uncovered by the wind, it will be better 
to use a roll. 
The flowering season is a more critical pe- 
riod for rye than for any of the other cereals ; 
nor can the farmer reckon with any certainty 
on the succe.ss of his crop until this has passed. 
A- white frost coming on about the flowering 
time may wholly or partially prevent the for- 
mation of the grain. This evil frequently only 
attacks the hedges of the field, or those parts 
most exposed to the wind, and frequently only 
injures one side of the ears, viz: that one next 
to the quarter whence the wind comes. Where 
this has been the case, the ear loses color, the 
points of the husks pucker up, and the husks 
are found to he empty. 
Rainy, dam9,or very windy weather, occur- 
ring about the flowering season, has a perni- 
cious influence on rye. OccasionaVshowers 
do it no liarm, even when they are tolerably fre- 
quent, provided that there are a few hours of 
warm, sunny weather between each; fordur- 
ing rain the rye closes up iis valves, and when 
the sun afterwards comes out, the anthers spring 
up so vigorously that the pollen from the sta- 
mens covers the field like a thick cloud. But 
during continuous rains the anthers undergo an 
alteration in the valves, and rot; or, at any 
rate, impregnation does not take place; or if it 
does, the embryo of the grain is putrified and 
lost. It is thus that the disease termed the spur 
or ergot of rye is engendered, and that curious, 
blackish, violet-colored excrescence formed, 
which is so well known, and of itself appears 
to be of no consequence, but swallowed in large 
quantities, and especially while fresh, occa- 
sions such dangerous and mortal diseases in 
both men and animals. 
Strong, vigorous rye is, however, better able 
to resist the influences of foreign causes even 
during the flowering season, than weak and 
sickly plants. 
When the flowering tin»e is over, it will be 
easy to discover whether fecundation has been 
accomplished or not, or, in other words, whether 
or not the husks contain their grain: it is 
only necessary to hold the ears up to the light in 
order to ascertain this, because the impregna- 
ted valves appear transparent. But as with 
rye the flowering process proceeds but very 
slowly, it is as well not to be in too great a hur- 
ry to calculate the probable success of the crop, 
lest we form an erroneous judgment. When 
the plant is further developed, the empty husks 
will be felt on passing the hand over each ear. 
Rye is ripe when the straw becomes pale; 
when its yellow hue fades almost to white, and 
the knots have lost every trace of green; the 
grain is hard, easy to be detached, and falls out 
on the plant’s being struck orshaken. But Ca- 
to’s maxim must always be ob.'-erved with re- 
gard to rye: Oracidioni esLo biduo dims, quarn, 
bidao scrius metere, (gel in your harvest two • 
davs too soon rather than two days too late.) 
On land of tolerable quality, and which from 
its nature is as vrell adapted for rye as for 
wheat, the average produce of these two kinds 
of grain will be nearly or quite the same in vo- 
lume. I have, however, gever known an in- 
stance in which a rye crop averaged .nore than 
twenty-two bushels per acre, while much larg- 
er crops of wheat are frequently obtained, al- 
though it must be confessed that it was Irom 
land much too stiff for rye. Twelve bushels 
maybe regarded as a very fair amount of pro- 
duce; but now and then the crop barely yields 
three bushels per acre. Where it is less than 
this, it may be said altogether to fail; a soil on 
which this is usually the case, hardly repays 
theexpense of sowing it, and has no nominal 
value as arable land. The weight of a bushel 
of good rye is from 76 to 86 pounds. 
Next to wheat, rye may be said to contain the 
largest amount of nutritive matter of any of 
the cultivated cereals. It contains an aromatic 
substance, which seems to adhere taore parti- 
cularly to the husk, since that agreeable taste 
and smell peculiar to rye bread are not percep- 
tible in that which is made of rye flour that has 
; been passed through a verv fine boiling cloth. 
The smell, as well as the blackish hue, m-ay be 
lestoredby means of a decoction of rye bran in 
warm v.mter used in making the dough. This 
substance appears to facilitate digestion, and 
has a peculiarly strengthening, .refreshing and 
beneficial efi'ect upon the animal ffame. 
In places where rye is the chief article of 
food, the price of this grain is not so invariable 
as it is in others, or, at any rate, it remains 
more in accordance with the abundance or 
scantiness of the crops. Foreign demand has 
in this countrv but a very indirect influence 
on its price. With us, rve regulates the price 
of all other nroducts; and even, by the wages 
of manual labor, the price of all kinds of man- 
ufactured commodities. The circumstances of 
the locality may be such as to render it more ad- 
vantageous to grow other products', but the de- 
mand for rye 1“= always regular and certain. = 1 ^ 
*This rem-irk is chieflsr applicable to the north of 
Germany, or to countries where the inhabitants live 
chiefly on rye, which is not senerallv the case either 
in France or Switzerland . — Ftinch Trans. 
All soils containing an excessive proportion 
of sand, and which are not too much exposed is 
humidity, will be found to bear better crops of 
rye than of any other kind of grain, provided 
that the sowings are carefullj'- executed. 
This grain exhausts land much les? than 
wheat. In a previous section we have admit- 
ted, as a general principle, that rye absorbs 
thirty parts in a hundred of the nutriment con- 
tained in the soil. As this grain yields a largei 
quantity of straw than any other, it will, il 
this straw is reduced to manure, restore a larger 
portion of the nutriment which it has absorbed 
than any other ; besides, its straw is peculjarly 
adapted for all the purposes of an agricultural 
undertaking. 
Spring rye is simply a variety of autumnsl 
rye, and may, as I have before observed, easily 
be changed into autumnal rye. It is generally 
made use of to replace the latter, when it has 
been impossible to sow the seed in time; and 
the ground is not fit for any other kind of grain, 
and especially for the purpose of deriving bene- 
fit frotrrihe m.anufe bestowed on the soil during 
winter. It thrives well on land which is too 
sandy and too dry for barley or oats. After po- 
tatoes or autumnal rye which ha.s failed, spring 
rye succeeds admirably, provided that it has 
been sown as early as possible, and in a soil 
properly prepared tor its reception. 
Spring rye otherwise seldom yields an amount 
of produce at all equal to that of autumnal rye, 
and^'^ometimes altogether fails. Its grain is 
small, and has a very thin husk; but contains 
such excelient flour as to cause it frequently to 
fetch a higher 'price than autumnal rye, • 
It ought to be sown early, viz: either at the 
end of March, or about the beginning of April ; 
autumnal rye should be sown at the commence^ 
inent of March. Spring rye is not unfrequent- 
ly sown on the stubble of aummnal rye, after 
an amelioration of fresh manure. The soil is 
only prepared for this kind of sowing during 
the cold and wet v inter months; consequently, 
dog’s tail grass, bent grass, and other varieties 
of asrostis, multiply rapidly. In general, no 
fields are found to be so infested with weeds as 
those in which rye ischiefiy cultivated. Such 
land has hence, often, and verv unjustly been 
accused t f being disposed by Nature to pradue* 
bent grass. 
From the New England Farmer. 
A CMAPTEfS, OIV S..IME. 
Mr. Brrck: — I forward you the following 
chapter, thinking it may serve to give some of 
your readers more definite ideas of the sevecai 
compounds of lime. 
Lime as taken from the quarry, is called car- 
bonate of lime; limestone, marble. If pure, it 
consists of about 44 per cent, of carbonic acid, 
and 56 pec cent, of lime. When the limestone 
is subjected to the intense heat of a lime kiln, 
the acid is driven off, and the hundred pounds 
ot limestone put in the kiln come out but 56 
pounds of burnt, caustic, or quick-lime. (Th» 
fact of this difference between the burnt and 
unburnt lime, is something of an object, where 
it has to be carted some distance.) If the burnt 
or quick lime is left exposed to the air, it gradu- 
ally imbibes from it carbonic acid and mois- 
ture, and the lumps crumble,^ or slake into a 
powder; it is then termed air-slaked, or effete 
lime, and will, in time, by the absorption ol 
carbonic acid, become, chemically, or nearly 
so, what it was before being burned — that is, 
carbonate of lime. 
If water is thrown upon the newly burnt 
lime, it readily slakes into a fine powder, and it 
is then termed water-slaked, or hydrate ot lime. 
In this process ol slaking it absorbs about 24 
per cent, of water, which is chemically com- 
bined with the lime, and is in a much more so- 
lid stale than ice, and can only be driven off by 
a strong heat; or by long exposure to the air, 
it is displaced by carbonic acid. 
Sulphate of lime, gypsum or plaster of Pari», 
is an abundant product of nature. When pure 
it is, in 100 pounds, composed of 46 per cent, or 
