106 
—The great northern rye very nearly resembles 
the Tyrolese giant rye; and affords a lofty and 
stiff straw, and a large, handsome, and heavy 
grain; but, even when sown in summer, does not 
tiller out more than the common English rye.— 
The Vierlande rye is also a very fine variety, 
conspicuous for its large and beautiful grain.— 
“Should the grain of rye be the cultivator’s ob- 
ject, either for sale or for rearing or fattening 
cattle, the Tyrolese giant rye, the great northern 
rye, or the Russian broad-leaved rye, are better 
adapted for that purpose than the common rye 
or St. John’s day rye.” 
The brittle rye, Secale fragile, was introduced 
to Britain from Tauria in 1816, and is regarded 
as a separate species. A variety of it, called 
perennial rye, has smaller seeds than the St. 
John’s rye ; and when sown in the beginning of 
April by Mr. Lawson of Edinburgh, showed no 
appearance of running to ear so late as Decem- 
ber. Mr. Taunton, at one time, had this plant 
in his experiment ground; and thought it worthy 
of attention from its precocious habit, and from 
its promising early feed; and did not find it 
either backward or penurious in ripening its 
seed. 
The eastern rye, Secale orientale, was introduced 
from the Levant in 1807; and is also regarded 
as a separate species; but is viewed by the dis- 
tinguished Russian botanist Bieberstein as, not 
a rye, but a wheat. It hasa biennial duration, 
and a height of about 3 feet, and a similar 
flowering-time to the common rye. 
The composite rye, Secale cereale compositum, 
is set down in botanical systems as a variety of 
the common rye; but, if true to its name, it 
would seem to have a clustered spike like the 
composite or Smyrna or Egyptian wheat. 
The Astracan rye lies shrouded in very pro- 
voking uncertainty. “For 30 years past,” says 
Mr. Taunton, “has the author been vehemently 
desirous to obtain the rye of Astracan, reported 
by some writers to be the most beautiful grain 
that grows in the world; but all his endeavours 
have been fruitless; nor has he even been suc- 
cessful in ascertaining whether it be a real rye, 
and, if so, whether it be a species, or only a fine 
variety of Secale cereale ; or whether it be, as 
some have surmised, merely the Polish wheat, 
Triticum Polonicum, a very remarkable and 
beautiful grain, which the writer has heretofore 
raised and admired.” 
The Cultivation of Rye-—The soils most suit- 
able for all or any of the kinds of rye are such as 
contain a large proportion of silicious matter. 
Light sandy soils, totally unsuitable for wheat, 
are peculiarly favourable for rye; soils containing 
a considerable intermixture of argillaceous earth 
are moderately favourable ; and calcareous soils, 
such as those of the chalk downs, are by no means 
suitable. 
The quantity of seed for a crop of grain need 
not be more than one bushel per acre, on good 
land and at midsummer sowing, for the St. John’s 
day rye; but must range from 24 to 3 bushels, 
in ordinary circumstances, at respectively autum- 
nal and vernal sowings, for the winter and the 
spring ryes. The quantity, in the latter cases, for 
straw - plait, however, should be more than 
doubled ; and even the quantity of St. John’s 
day rye, and of the kindred varieties, when in- 
tended chiefly for green food, may be advantage- 
ously increased. Rolling after. sowing, particu- 
larly on very light land, is indispensable. “ The 
wire - worm,” remarks Mr. Taunton, “feeds 
greedily on the St. John’s day rye; and I have 
found it to destroy an entire crop when the 
ground has been left hollow. Indeed, I consider 
abundant compression of the new sown soil by 
Crosskill’s clod-crusher, or, in its absence, by 
other heavy rollers, and by the treading of sheep, 
to be most efficacious, if not essential, to the 
success of this crop.” 
The growing of rye in mixture with wheat, in 
the manner of the ancient meslin, is still occa- 
sionally to be seen in Britain, particularly in the 
north of England; but this is a bad practice, 
both because the two grains may not always 
happen to ripen together, and because land which 
is rich enough to produce wheat should not be 
employed for a less valuable grain. “The com- 
mon rye is also used by unskilful persons to sow 
amongst winter tares or vetches, in order. to 
support them, that they may not, by. trailing on 
the ground, exclude the light and air and become 
yellow and lose their lower foliage. But it is ill 
suited to this end, because it grows so much faster 
than the vetches, that when the vetches are cut 
in blossom, the rye is become hard and has ceased 
to be eatable, consequently is wasted. Moreover, 
it grows so much faster than the vetches that it 
overtops, and, if the proportion of rye be large, 
it, by reason thereof, shades and injures them. 
The proper grain to use for supporting winter 
vetches is wheat; and for this purpose the stur- 
diest varieties of wheat are the best. By a 
beautiful adaptation of the means to the end, 
wheat grows exactly as fast as the,vetches do, 
and no faster, and has exactly the degree of 
stiffness requisite to support them; and when 
they are to be consumed, the whole mass is eat- 
able together, the wheat being the most nutri- 
tious and valuable part thereof.” 
The general management of rye culture is, in 
all respects, the same as that of wheat ; and any 
peculiarities which arise from speciality of object 
or of circumstances, have been incidentally men- 
tioned in our account of the several varieties. A 
very peculiar disease to which rye is subject, re- 
quires to be well-known, on account of its terrible 
effects when the grain affected by it happens to 
be used as human food, See the article Ercor. - 
The Uses of Rye—The grain of rye,as a bread- 
corn, is regarded as of the utmost importance in 
the domestic economy of very many districts of 
Continental Europe. Bread made from it con- 
