According to A. de Candolle, it is doubtful whether rye now exists in the wild state. He held that the wild rye reported by travelers was either plants which were self-sown or a rye-like form of grass of an allied genus. It is certain that under cultivation rye has the power of perpetuating itself by volunteer sowing beyond any other grain.
According to Haelccl, however, the original form of rye (Scenic montan um) grows wild in mountains of the Mediterranean countries and as far east as central Asia. It is perennial, with a jointed rachis, both of which characters have disappeared in cultivation.
Rye seems to be a plant of decreasing importance in the economy of the world. First barley and later wheat have driven it out'of the warmer cli mates. It has always been the bread of northern peoples. In the United States, at least, it is mainly the peculiar value of the straw which still retains for it a place in our agricultural practice.
Distribution.
While rye is of minor importance in America, it is the principal cereal of Russia and Scandinavia. It is estimated that the world's production of rye is equal to slightly more than 50 per cent of the world's wheat crop, and rather more than one-half of this is grown in Russia.
The annual production of rye in the United States for the five years 1900 to 190-1 averages a little less than 29,000,000 bushels, and this amount has shown no important increase for twenty years. Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, New York and Nebraska were the only states growing more than 2,000,000 bushels in 1904, but the growing of rye has reached its highest development in New Jersey and in three or four counties of eastern New York. In New Jersey, the production of rye very closely approaches that of wheat, being the only state where this condition prevails. In Canada in 1901 the bushels of rye were 2,316,793, from 176,679 acres. More than two millions of bushels of the crop were produced in Ontario.
Composition.
The composition of rye grain is similar to that of maize and wheat, the following being the average of many American analyses as given by Henry : Rye differs from maize mainly in the less amount of fat ; and it has considerably less protein than wheat. So far as more chemical analysis is con
cerned, it may probably be considered as satisfac torily replacing corn M a ration.
The composition of rye-straw is almost identical with that of wheat-straw, but it is much tougher in fiber, which gives it a special value as bedding and for some industrial purposes.
Culture of rye.
Soil.— It is true that rye will make a fair growth on soils which are too light and thin for the successful growing of wheat or barley, and this has tended to crowd the crop off of the more fer tile soils ; but rye will repay good culture and liberal fertilization as well as any other grain. It is unfortunate that rye and buckwheat have achieved the reputation of being the grains of poverty. Rye makes its best growth on soils which contain less clay than some which are adapted to wheat, and it is very important that it have good drainage. Snow protection in very severe weather is scarcely less necessary than in wheat-growing.
The high value of the straw is the only factor which makes it advisable to grow rye on soils which are naturally well adapted to wheat, but this fact has a most important bearing on the case. The writer, living on a farm where both wheat and rye are produced successfully, finds that rye is, on the whole, the more profitable crop to grow, and so it is sown on lands which are rich enough to grow maxi mum crops of wheat and often to cause it to lodge. Rye here finds its place in a four-crop rotation of corn, heavily manured with stable manure, followed by oats with acid phosphate, this followed by rye with acid phosphate and grass seeded with the rye.
Fertilizers.—The principles of fertilization which apply to the other small cereals hold with rye as well. Too much nitrogen and moisture result in early lodging, discolored straw and very shrunken grain. Applications of phosphoric acid sometimes give most striking benefits by counteracting this tendency. The writer has seen 250 pounds per acre of dissolved phosphate rock make all the difference between a crop which " crinkled" down soon after heading and one that stood up until it was well filled ; and the straw remained fairly bright.