^uburba/m 
- ^ 
ipirii 
ISkiW aS. 
VoL. LXXVTI. 
I’ublished Weekly at 3o3 W. 30th St., Vh''\v YllT'K TT’^T Y 1*^ 101S 
Yew York. VriJe Oi.e Dollar a Year. -M - tl'lvlx. .11 1.1 I-.. l.M'i. 
Eiiterefl as Second Class Matter at New Y'ork 
under the Act of (^onsress, March 3, 1 S 70 . 
No. 4400. 
The Culture of Rye 
A Substitute for Wheat 
KESEXT COXDITIOXS.— 
Oiii* reports indicate that quite 
a proportion of ffrain fanners in 
the East are thinking of chang¬ 
ing from Avheat to rye this year. 
Some of tliem are men who Avere 
induced liy tlie appeals from 
■Washington to seed AA lieat. They 
either inerea.sed their small 
Avheat acreage, or seeded wheat 
as a new crop. In many cases 
this has not jiroved satisfactory. 
■With their locations and methods 
of culture the Av'ieat did not do 
Avell. and t'.ie yield is so uiiprom- 
ifing that they do not care to 
repeat, while at the same time 
they Avant to Iieip increase the 
country's supply of grain. In 
other cases a yood many farmers 
AA'cre induced to seed Spring 
AA'heat in section ; where this 
gr.ain canm po^.-ildy succeed. 
The result is a loss and disaji- 
pointment. h'hese men. howcA'cr, 
desire to grow grain of some 
sort, and the.A' are Avisely turning 
to rye as a suitalde crop for 
their location and siul. Many 
other farmers also have olx^'rved 
that both rye and rye Hour have 
been bringing eonsidiu’aldy more 
in E'.e inarkid than wlieat and its 
products. Tlie tixed government 
price for wheat lias ]>revented 
that grain from following in its 
l)rie(' the law of supidy .'iid de¬ 
mand. Avhile rye has been liouglit 
and sold at a figure nearer its 
actual A'alue. Tluu'e are many 
localities T.’here rye will cer¬ 
tainly ])ay hettm- than Avheat, and 
AA'hile Ave won 11 iior advise any 
AA'holesale ch.ange awa\' from a 
regular practice, there ,ire many 
farmers \vho Avill do hetti*r to 
put in rye this year. 
A TIAEOY CRor.—Eye is 
much hardier th.an wheat. We 
ha\'e si'cded it for o\'er years, 
and have never had a failure, or 
even a jioor stand. Avhen at the 
same time Avheat h.is often been 
badl.v cut l>y a seA'^re Winter. 
The ry ■ Avill make a fair growth 
on almost any kind of oil. and 
is much imperior for a light soil 
to most varieties of Avheat. 
The r.A’o does not reiiuii’o as much 
manure or fertilizer to make a 
profitable growtli. and it will do 
reasonably Avell even upoji an 
acid soil on Avhich wheat Avould 
make only a moderate .''rowth. 
Ilye is also considered a better 
grain for seeding down. We 
generall.v expect to obtain a better catch both of 
grain and clover Avhen seeihsl in the rye. The rye 
does not make as heavy i yield as the Avheat, 
although in many parts of the East, and iiarticularly 
on light, open land, the rye Avill give about as many 
leiE hed;iing.. .and near large 
cLf-i.'s is greatly prized 'oy horse¬ 
men. 
rrr.Tt'RE axd rotatiox. 
—The culture of rye is very much 
the same as that of Avheat. except 
that tiie rye ma.v be seeded al¬ 
most up to Winter Avith a fair 
cli.anee of obtaining a stand, ft 
is gener.ally used in a rotation 
where such a plan of culture 
followed, and on most farms of 
New .Jersey, or in the ITud.son 
■N'alle.v, where r.A-e is largel.y 
groAvn. this grain usually follo’.vs 
potatoes with a seeding of Timo- 
tliy. On man.A- I.ong Islanl 
farms, and also in tlie northern 
part of XeAA' .Jerse.A'. r.ve is A'ery 
valuable as a cover crop. As 
.soon as the potatoes are dug the 
ground is Avorked Avith a disk or 
spring-tooth harrow and seeded 
Avith about five pecks of r.ve, 
AA'orked in with a light harrow. 
This makes a strong growth 
tfirough the Fall. coA'ering tiie 
ground completely, and the fol¬ 
lowing Slpriiig it may he left to 
mature grain, or jiloAA'ed under 
for another potato crop, the lat¬ 
ter plan being freipiently fol¬ 
lowed where the farms are smalt, 
and wiiere notatoes make a profit¬ 
able erof'. We liave found It 
profitahle to add about three 
pounds of .Vlsike clover to tlie 
r.A'e. This ehn-er Avill make a fair 
groAvtli, far more tlnni eiioiigli to 
pay for the seed and labor, and 
the whole riling can he ploAA'ed 
under in tlie Siiring as a cover 
crop, or left for tlie rye to ma¬ 
ture a> needed. .Viiyone aa'Iio has 
ev'or grown wlieat will know how 
to liamlle iwe. Tlie culture is the 
same, except that the rye may 
be seeihal mm-h iarer in the sea- 
siiti, and does not require as fine 
a titting of tlie .<oiI. and Avill ilo 
Avell on iiiucli rougher land than 
the wheat could endure. The 
hai’''esting md ’n.imlling of tire 
tvA'o grains is mueli tlie same. 
For all covor erojis wo think rye 
is a great ho'p, if not a necessity 
It is so sure of making a good 
. catcii. makes such a srroiig. vig¬ 
orous growth, and gi.v“'- .-.iieli pro¬ 
tection to the sm.illcr plants 
seeded with it that we rind it a 
A'er.A' great help. 
FEEDIXE VAJ.T'E.—T!ie feed¬ 
ing A'aiue of rye is not ijuite 
equal to that of Avheat. although 
there is very little ditfereiice in 
that respect. Most live stock pre¬ 
fers the Avheat. I‘oultr.v.;.do. iiat 
care for tlie rye Avlieiiifed alone, 
ami Ave have fouinl it better to-grind ithe , r.A'e .and 
mix it AA'ith corn, bran, or other more-i»alatalfie‘feeds 
ill the form of .a ilry mash. iMaii.A' of the'dldei’'farm¬ 
ers ill Northern New .Jersey believe that the head.s 
of rye, when chopped and mixed with ground feed, 
Rye EiyJit Feet Hifjh on n Netr Jrrsej Farm. Fig. 'i2/f 
pounds of grain to the aei-t* in tlie avm-agt* se.-i.-ou. 
On rich, well-piviiared laud, and Avith a good season, 
the wheat Avill oiityield tlie r.\'e. The r.ve straw 
is more Aaluahle than wheat straw. It is usually 
longer, and very tough and hard. It makes excel- 
