are made suitable for the use of individual farmers as well as the large machines intended for itinerant threshing. 490. Use. The grain of rye is used for the production of flour, for food for domestic animals, and for the production of alcohol and alcoholic beverages. Rye flour is prepared in two forms: (1) fine rye flour, which has been thoroughly bolted according to modern processes of milling (176, 177), and (2) coarse rye flour, which corresponds to Graham flour in wheat. (174) Bread made from coarse rye flour has usually been esteemed more nutritious than that made from fine rye flour. Fine rye flour is less nutritious than bread from wheat flour. On the European continent where coarse rye bread is usually eaten it has been considered more nutritious than wheat bread. Digestion experiments, however, tend to show that fine white flour contains the greater net available energy. In America rye bread is in very small demand and mostly by those who have acquired a taste for it in European countries. Rye, preferably ground, forms a satisfactory food for all classes of domestic animals, and may be fed as a substitute for maize whenever the price is such as to justify. Rye straw is used in the manufacture of paper, for a great variety of packing, including fruit trees, and for bedding for domestic animals. Rye straw is so highly prized for these uses that rye is largely raised in this country for the production of straw rather than for the production of grain. Were it not for the demand for the straw, the production of rye would probably rapidly decrease. "The manufacture of straw is one of the most important industries of this Empire, giving thousands means of support. I believe it could be profitably introduced into Wisconsin, Minnesota, northern Michigan, the woods of Maine and hills of Vermont, New Hampshire and western Massachusetts. Straw, that once served only for fuel or fertilizing purposes, is put up by these people into the most useful, beautiful and fantastic forms Plates, dishes, baskets, boxes, tables, trunks, fans, hats, caps, mats, etc., are made by the million and sent to all parts of the world. In a stretch of country containing six square miles, there are 10,000 persons employed in making articles of straw. "Of the straws used, the best come from Tuscany. They are rye and wheat straws, and are known as the 'grano marzuolo,' or March grain. It is sown in March, very thick, to prevent the blades from growing too fast or strong. In June it has grown to a length of 18 or 20 inches and is ready for use. The rye and wheat is torn out by the roots, bound into small bundles, exposed to the sun but not to the rain, and is then laid aside for one or two years' seasoning. Before being worked, the bundles are spread out like fans, exposed three nights to the dew and three days to the sun; they are then turned to expose the other side two nights to the dew and three days to the sun. In this way, the straw that was green becomes a beautiful yellow or golden white. The ears and roots are now removed, and the stems are sorted into twelve to twenty sizes." 1 491. Rye as a Soiling Crop.-Rye is especially acceptable to milch cows, when fed as a soiling crop the flow of milk being well maintained, and no bad results accrue from its use. The period during which it is available is comparatively brief, however, usually not more than two weeks in the latter part of April and fore part of May, varying somewhat with latitude and season. The period of maturity in which it makes a desirable soiling crop varies from just before heading until it is in full bloom. Prior to the earlier stage the yield is not sufficient to justify its use, and after the later stage it is not sufficiently palatable to be eaten readily. The Pennsylvania Station has shown that between the extremes noted, requiring twelve days, the yield of dry matter in the plant increased approximately from 1,200 to 2,800 pounds per acre. In a system of soiling the hiatus between rye and oats and field peas (405) may be filled in with wheat and later with common red clover. At the Alabama Station four cuttings of rye made in October, November, January and February gave a total of eleven tons of green rye per acre." 492. By-Products.-The by-products of rye are rye bran and distillers' grains. Rye bran has about the same feeding value as wheat bran. The distillers' grains are the by-products 1 J. C. Monaghan: Germany's Straw Industry. Consular Reports, Vol. LVIII (1898), No. 216, p. 53. 2 Penn. Rpt. 1893, p. 52. 8 Ala. Bul. 16. of the manufacture of alcohol and also contain varying proportions of rye and other cereal grains. (357) Usually the higher the proportion of rye used, the less the percentage of protein and fat and the lower the feeding value. 493. Rye Crop of the World.-The world's production of rye varied during 1898-1902 from 1,449 million (1901) to 1,678 million (1902), the average annual p. Juction being 1,560 million bushels. The following table shows the average annual production of rye for five years by continents in million bushels: Russia produced fifty-four per cent of the entire crop during this period; Russia and Austria-Hungary sixty-two per cent. Excepting the maize crop of the United States, Russia produces more rye than any other country of any one crop. 494. Rye Crop of the United States.-The reported acreage of rye in 1899 showed a decrease of 5.4 per cent since 1889, accompanied by a ten per cent decrease in production. While barley appears to be relatively increasing in acreage, rye appears to be decreasing. In 1880 the acreage of barley was about one million in excess of that of rye; in 1900 the acreage of barley was more than double that of rye, the latter having made comparatively slow progress since 1880. The average price per bushel during the ninety decade was fifty-two cents, a decrease of nine cents from the previous decade. The value per acre of rye in 1899 was $5.95, the least of any of our cereals, grain alone being considered. While the annual exportation of rye, seven million bushels for 1898-1902 inclusive, is small compared with wheat or maize, it is about one-fourth the total production. There is practically no importation. 495. Center of Production. In 1850 the concentration of the rye crop in the North Atlantic division was greater than that of barley, eighty-three per cent of the entire crop coming from that region. The westward movement has not been so rapid as in the case of barley; the North Atlantic division furnished twenty-nine and the North Central division sixtythree per cent of the total production in 1900. The center of production in 1850 was somewhere west of the center of New York and Pennsylvania; in 1899 it had shifted westward into the State of Illinois. Fifty-three per cent of the crop of 1899 was furnished by four States: Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, New York and Michigan. 496. Yield per Acre.-The average annual yield per acre of rye during the decade 1893-1902 was approximately fifteen bushels, an increase of about three bushels over the previous decade. There is little variation in yield in the North Central and North Atlantic States; the South Atlantic States fall quite below the average. Twenty to twenty-five bushels per acre is considered a good yield. The legal weight per bushel is fiftysix pounds in Canada and all the States of the Union, except California, where it is fifty-four pounds. 497. Commercial Grades.-Only one class of rye is recognized, the following being the rules for grading this class by the Illinois Board of Railroad and Warehouse Commissioners: "No. 1 rye.-Shall be sound, plump and well cleaned. "No. 2 rye.-Shall be sound, reasonably clean and reasonably free from other grain. "No. 3 rye.-Shall be reasonably sound, reasonably dry, free from must, and not good enough for No. 2. "No. 4 rye.—All rye, damp, musty, or for any other cause unfit for No. 3.” 498. History. The cultivation of rye is not nearly so ancient as that of wheat and barley. It was unknown to the ancient Egyptians. The ancient Greeks did not know it. Its introduction into the Roman Empire was hardly earlier than the, Christian era. The origin of its cultivation is supposed to be northeastern Europe. Within modern times rye was formerly a more important crop. Even as late as the middle of the nineteenth century rye was said to have formed the principal sustenance of at least one-third the population of Europe, barley taking its place in countries nearer the Mediterranean. It was annually sown with wheat, and is yet to a large extent mixed with wheat in grinding, and the resulting flour is called meslin. The mixture of maize and rye for bread was common in New England. Relatively, rye was formerly much more important in England and the United States. Practicums. Make up 499. INFLUENCE OF SPECIFIC GRAVITY UPON GERMINATION. three solutions of sodium nitrate with a specific gravity of 1.20, 1.26 and 1.32, using a hydrometer to determine the specific gravity. Solutions may be placed in oatmeal dishes. Take preferably a sample of rye of rather low grade and divide into small, medium and large sized grains, either by hand or by means of sieves. (433) Then divide each sample into four groups according to specific gravity, by placing the sample in the solution of highest specific gravity; then put that which floats in the solution of next highest specific gravity, and so on. Grains can be conveniently removed from the solution by using a piece of wire gauze. Place fifty seeds of each of the twelve groups thus obtained in germinator at 70° F. and determine the number germinating in 24 hours .; 48 hours .; 72 hours .: 96 hours...; 120 hours (475) Seeds may also be grown as in (433). Wheat and barley may also be treated in the same solutions, and many other agricultural seeds may be tested by varying the density of the solutions. A saturated solution of common salt and a saturated solution of ammonium nitrate made by boiling will upon cooling to 75° F. have a specific gravity of approximately 1.20 and 1.30 respectively. For further details, see N. Y. (Geneva) Bul. 256. 500. STUDY OF PLANT.-Examination under Nos. 1 to 8 preferably made in field: Nos. 9 to 16, in the laboratory. 1. Height of culm: average of ten culms to tip of upper beard Diameter below spike: average of ten culms 2. 3. Wall of culm (compared with wheat): thick; medium; thin. 4 Foliage (compared with wheat): scanty; medium; abundant. 5. Rust: leaves, per cent .; culms, per cent |