VOL. LII. No. 2269. 
NEW YORK, JULY 22, 189; 
PRICE, THREE CENTS. 
$ 1.00 PER YEAR. 
THE RESURRECTION OF RYE. 
BUKIEl), IT GIVES LIKE TO CORN. 
We have often spoken of the practice some corn 
growers have of sowing rye after one corn crop is re¬ 
moved, to grow through the fall and spring. Often 
the manure to be used on the next corn crop is hauled 
during the winter and put on the rye. This causes a 
tremendous growth during the early spring, and at the 
latest moment the whole thing is plowed under, a 
quantHy of fertilizer added and the land planted to 
corn. This can be continued year after year if need 
be, and is very helpful where a large silo is to be filled 
yearly, as in this way a field close to the barn can be 
used year after year, avoiding long hauls for manure 
or ensilage corn. About the best illustration of the 
way to carry out this chapter of “Chemicals and 
Clover” is shown in our picture—Fig. 168. This is 
made from a photograph taken on the farm of S. M. 
Colcord, of Dover, Mass. Mr. Colcord, as most of our 
readers know, has devised an apparatus for obtaining 
absolutely sweet and uniform ensilage. We shall give 
the latest facts about his “ silo governor ” in another 
article. Just no w we 
want to know how 
and why he can bring 
himself to plow in 
such a crop of rye as 
we see in the picture. 
Why not cut it, sell 
straw and grain and 
use the money to buy 
manure or fertilizer 
for the rye ? We will 
let him answer in his 
own words. 
The Making of a Rye 
Crop. 
“ How much corn 
do you grow ? ” 
“ About 12 acres for 
the silo—some of it to 
be fed green.” 
“ What about the 
rye crop ? ” 
“ Last year’s crop 
was harvested in Sep¬ 
tember ; in October I 
ran a wheel harrow 
over the corn stubble, 
without plowing it. 
Then I sowed it to rye 
broadcast; then ran 
the harrow over it again. Before winter it was quite a 
green field, and during the winter and early spring it 
tillered very much and I spread on it a good coat of 
manure, which gave it a quick start and growth. 
When it was four to six feet high I began to plow it 
under and plant my corn on it, and before I got 
through, the rye was six to seven feet high, as seen in 
the picture. I use an Eclipse corn planter which 
drops and covers about 400 pounds of fertilizer to the 
acre, while it is planting the corn.” 
“ Were the results satisfactory last year ? ” 
“ Very much so. In fact they were so good that I 
determined to experiment with all my fields this year, 
and have planted Red-cob Ensilage, Blunt’s Prolific, 
Stowell’s Evergreen and Sanford’s White Flint. The 
seed is the same I have used before with very satis¬ 
factory results. The Red-cob last year grew from 12 
to 15 feet high, with ears that husked 10 inches long, 
nine inches in circumference and weighed two pounds.” 
“ Did you find drilled corn blows down badly ?” 
“Not when planted in this way, because it sends 
out a set of lateral roots near the top of the ground in 
its early growth, and, later, sends down a big tap root 
and another set of much larger laterals, about six 
inches below the upper set, into the rye. It cannot be 
blown down by the wind, but some of it may break 
off two or three feet above the ground.” 
Getting the Rye Decently Buried. 
“ What plows do you use V ” 
“ The land has been plowed with the Cassidy Sulky, 
the North American Swivel, and the No. 40 Oliver 
Chilled. I have put the land as nearly as I can in the 
same condition for all the crops, as my experiments 
are with the plows, the seed, the fertilizers and the 
rye. This is on land planted one year, and two years 
in succession. Turned over the second year, the land 
showed a marvelous change in condition for the 
better, and this year it was turned under quite as 
easily as though there were no crop on it. All the 
plows worked well, but the Oliver Chilled did the 
best and quickest work, with less labor for the 
team, and left no head-lands, as we plowed around 
the field. In plowing in rye, it is very difficult to 
make a good job if there are any head-lands.” 
“ But how do you get the rye out of sight ? ” 
“To turn it down under the furrow I use a light 
ox chain, about six feet long, the ring being placed 
over the top of the wheel fixture on the front end of 
the beam, and the other end of the chain being at¬ 
tached to the top of the cutter, which is about over 
the point of the plow. Then I attach a ball or weight 
of three to six pounds to a link of the chain, so as to 
allow the weight to drop into the furrow at the heel 
of the plow, and prevent it from jumping out of the 
furrow. If the beam is high above the ground, the 
attachments may be made from the under side of it. 
Of course the weight is out of sight most of the time 
while in use. The attachment should not allow it to 
get under or behind the plow, nor should the short 
end be so loose as to let it get out of the furrow, but 
should allow it to travel in the furrow at the side 
furthest from the plow. The picture, Fig. 168, shows 
one end of the chain ; the other is out of sight, be¬ 
cause I put a steel wire around the plow beam, and 
hitched the chain to it under the beam to allow the 
weight of the chain to come upon the rye, and bend 
it down so as to facilitate plowing it under." 
“Why Not Cut and Cure the Rye?” 
“ Now you want to learn why I plow the rye under 
iustead of allowing it to stand three weeks longer, 
and then harvest a heavy crop of grain and straw ? ” 
“ Well, yes ; while you are about it! ” 
“The reason is that for a number of years I have 
planned to make these experiments, but when the 
time came to bury the rye my courage failed, and I 
chose to harvest it. But I thought it over and over 
again, and in the fall I had a good crop of rye that I 
could not get a good price for, so I thought I would 
fix my courage for the next year. I planted all the 
land I had up, to rye ; all that I had to use for corn. 
I found it quite inexpensive, and I kept the land 
from wasting. It looked much better in the spring ; 
it did not require much courage to plow it under; 
what manure the lye took went to the corn, and if I 
had not done it, the land would have lain idle.” 
“ You don’t believe in idleness then ? ” 
“ No, sir. But these were not the only or main 
reasons. The question of nitrogen came to mind. It 
is too expensive to buy as a fertilizer, but then 1 
thought that four- 
fifths of the air was 
nitrogen and every 
stalk of rye was a 
tube filled with it, 
that the crop under 
the soil would make 
it loose, the ground 
would be porous and 
cause heat and fer¬ 
mentation under the 
corn, and that prob¬ 
ably the laboratory 
of Nature would work 
better results than 
either fertilizer fac¬ 
tories or experiment 
stations.” 
“ Nature is a good 
chemist then ? ” 
“Certainly. She 
knows that heat and 
fermentation are life 
and health under the 
corn, but death to 
ensilage in the silo, 
operating something 
as carbonic acid does 
in case of humanity, 
causing health in the 
stomach but death in 
the lungs ; then I decided to plow under my rye. So 
that I have increasing faith in air, nitrogen, heat, fer¬ 
mentation, rye, corn, ensilage and the twin silo, if each 
is properly used. I want no heat or fermentation in 
my silo, and that is why I use my silo governor. 
“ But we will make that another story ! One suoh 
dose is enough at a time. There are very few men or 
things that are fully capable of self-government. A 
good ‘ governor ’ gives them order and stability, and 
that is what ensilage needs.” 
This use of rye as a quick-growing green manure 
crop for the corn has many advantages which are 
quite evident to any one who will give the subject 
careful thought. We know that very elaborate tables 
have been given to show that it pays better to reap 
and thrash the rye and sell the grain and straw. 
While this may be true in many cases, there are ex¬ 
ceptions to this as to all other rules. Mr. Colcord’s 
rye pays best as food for the corn. Have you 
ever tried it so as to know which is more profitable 
for you ? It is going to pay you to find out, and 
the only “authority” that can give you any real 
facts is the corn plant. Ask it I 
