The Kenosha telegraph. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1860-1888, 1862-09-18
Rye

There is no better test oil the hafdl-
ness and value of rye, than the fact
that it has place upon the most ex-
hausted farms. 1t bears abnse and
neglect better than almost any other
grain. The facility with which 1t can
be raised has been nearly fatal to much
good land in the north. When wheat
could no longer be grown with profit,
rye took its place, and as it would
Weld remuDerative crops without man
ure, land was sowed to this grain with
no other rotation than grass, until II
would not pay for blowing. 1t IS Sun
a common practice, Notwithstanding
the inroad new ideas have mace, 70
turn up old pastures and exhausted
meadows and SOW with rye without
anv manure. A crop of ten or fifteen
bushels will about pay expenses, and
many farmers are satisfied with this
scanty yield.
A rich hazel mould, well drained, or
naturally dry, is the best soil for rye.
fit is light, it should have manure
The great luxuriance of this plant up
on newly cleared forest land shows
that it delights in a soil wen stocked
with food. 1t is a good plan to ma
nure broadcast, and plow in ten or
twelve loads Of stable manure or Of
good compost, but still more important
to apply a part Of the manure, which
should be well rotted compost, to the
surface, and harrow in with the seed.
One of the best dressings for this crop
is 'fish pie" or compost made in June,
and applied in September at the time
Of sowing. This is a favorite manure
along the sea~board, in the rye grow
ing districts. The fish are sometimes
applied broadcast to the green sward
several weeks or even months before
the land is plowed; but this is very
wasteful practice. No better rye is
raised in the world than along the
shores Of Long Island Sound, with
this fertilizer. a yield Of forty bush
els to the acre,under favorable circum
stances, is sometimes realized.
1t is very much better to use some
manure and get twenty-five to thirty
bushels to the acre, than to SOW on
sward or stubble, and get ten without
any manure. AS rye will sprout at a
very low temperature it may be sown
late, but does much better to be put IN
in September. If it grows too luAuri-I
antly,it may be fed off in October with
calves or young stock. Sheep are apt
to feed too close and pull up the roots
Late feeding is injurious, as it would
leave the roots altogether too bare for
winter.
The true place for rye is not as a
crop to flch from the soil its last ele>
ments Of fertility, but 10 come in, in a
iudicious rotation of five or six years.
A good farmer ought to be ashamed
to raise less than twenty fye bushels
to the acre, when, with a little more
manure, he may just as well get thirty
five. Rye should have its place in To-
tation until we have brought up our
farms to a condition where they will
grow wheat, an event that is sure to
follow tile>draining,an higher state
of fertility.
We have not as D1any varieties of
rye as of wheat, and not much is gen.
orally known except Of the common
winter grain. Spring rye . very lit
tie grown, most farmers preferring
Spring wheat or barley, where they
have land in condition for any Spring
grain. The white rye raised extern
sively in New Jersey is a fair, hand
some article, about the COLOR Of red
wheat, large and prolific. 1t is not
yet very widely distributed, but enough
is already known productivenesS,
hardness, and other good qualities to
determine its value. There is a fine
field here for the enterprise of some
wide-awake farmer. This grain is as
susceptible Of improvement as wheat
or barley, and few years OF careful
cultivation from select seed would give
us improved varieties unquestiona-
bly, much better than anything we now
have.
This grain is highly priced in all the
districts where wheat is not raised.
Chemical analysis shows that it is but
a little below wheat in nutritiye value,
and this estimate is confirmed by the
analysis Of the stomach. Well boiled, it
mades excellent bread, the best SUBJ
stltute we have for the wheaton loaf.
and by some preferred to that stands
ard article. AS variety it is highly
relished at most tables, If not in the
loaf, at least in short-cakes and biscuit.
The bran is Indispensable in the loaf
of brown bread, which is a good old
institution handed down from our
grandmothers, and which we trust viii
be perpetuated to the latest day.
The straw, always the most econ
Omical bedding for stables, has of late
years become Of considerable value in
the arts, selling as high as fifteen dol
lars ton. But this of course only
benefits the farmers in the limited dis,
tricts near the factories. In the packs
ing OF winter fruit, it is thought indis-
pensablc by some OF our best fruit
growers. Rye has always a good
home markets. one Of the surest erops
and deserves more careful culture aud
selection of varieties.--Alaericxn IA
rjcU2teSTiSt. .a-
- S-s--
The Flax Crop. .
There is strong beliefin the minds
of MANY tbat EIoV - vt - l. -.-