St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1885-01-10
RAISING RYE.
"A Cereal Which Has Few Equals and Nc
Superiors as q Renovator of the Soil.

Cereal Which Has Few Equals and n,
Superiors as q Renovator of the Soil.
There are many reasons why W,
should raise more rye than we do. A.
a renoyator of soils it has few equal:
and no superiors, not even excepting
clover. A good crop II rye can Otter
be grown where clover can notsget {
hold. This is especially the case upor
light. sandy soil. / have seen many
dry, sandy knobs, where clover had re
T peatedly failed to ''catch,h seeded Will
rye. and produce a fairly good crop
Two or three crops of this .plowed un.
der green will pave the; way for other
crops, or make valuable pasturage oi
these otherwise waste pfaces. Rye can
be harvested and taken off from these
same soils for several seasons in sue
cessien without seeming to deteriorate
at all in quality or quantity. However,
do-Rot think it pays tn raise rye as I,
market crop, even if the land were un-
injured thereby, for theiyield and price
| received will not generally warrant such
a course. Butt am positive that as, a
renovatnr Of partially ..yrn OUT laiids,
|. IL is unsurpassed. Were scientist l
might explain how the rye draws more
plants, taking but a small share of
those properties or constituents of plant
food from the soil, and sperhaps reach
ing down below the uncultivated surface
soil for largepart of the little needed
But, As am not 4 scientist, / will NIT
nsurp the functions of one, but will
simply state that in my observation and
experience rye does seem to possess the
qualities above alluded to. Where the
amount of manure produced is insnffi-
cient for the demands of the acres I'M
der cultivation. recourse to the plan of
green manuring must be had. Other.
wise DO not think the practice an
economical one.
One system of farming will not an.
swer for all sections of our country.
Some are blessed with fertile soils. good
markets and fine climate, while in other
sections nature has not been so lavish
in her gifts. and the cultivators of the
soil find it a constant and har,lstruggle
to keep the fertility necessary to pro-
duce the scant crops from which they
must exc out subsistence. The in
habitants must labor under all the dis
advantages incident to such country
--remote markets and bad facilities for
reaching the same. They must resort
to many eNpedients not sanctioned Nv
their more fortunate brothers of the az
rictlthral profession. To that class
does this article more particularly APP
ply. And to them l would .nr, raise
more rye. Make il prominent fea-
ture in the system of rotation. Let il
preeede every crop of corn; not to be
taken off as aripened crop, but ploughed
under as fertilizer or fed down by
stock. 1t will flourish where other
grains would fail. Wet or dry, rough
or smooth, sown early or sown late, it
will usually bring forth a fair crop.
In some localities rye is fairly pay
ing crop to raise for the market. The
straw usually brings good price, and
the grain itself is often quoted as high
as-wheat. If the same care and prep
aration were given to the rye crop that
is given to wheat. there would be very
little difference in the yields and prof.
its. We're the difference, as is claimed.
in favor Of the wheat, it would be fully
offset by the difference in the drafts Of
the two crops upon the fertility Of the
land. : Let us have-more rye upoa our
light soils.-Ohio Farmer.