Charlevoix county herald. (East Jordan, Mich.) 189?-1953, 1917-07-20
ROSEN RYE is
"WONDER CROP"
OF MICHIGAN
Variety Developed by Michigan
Agricultural College is Yield
ing Twice as Much as
Common Strains.

| East Lansing, Mlcn., July Livery
now and then there flashes across the
country the story of wonder" crop,
in the ungarnished language of the
land, is plant prodigy supposed to be
capable of producing more food to the
acre than experience has taught the
farmer to expect A few years ago the
"spineless cactus" meant to make the
desert bloom, was hailed as one Of
these. More recently alfalfa has been
listed in this class And to these Mich
igan has now added Rosen rye. Rosen
is variety of rye developed by Prof.
Frank A. Spragg, plant broader for the
Michigan Agricultural college, which is
being spoken of this season by official
inspectors as 'the most spectacular
grain crop of the year in Michigan"
Rosen promises to double Michigan's S
rye yield. The average crop OF common
Michigan rye runs about 10 bushels to
the acre. The common yield of Rosen
rye, as reported by authorized crops
inspectors of the Michigan Agricultural
college, is 80 bushels to the acre, and
on many farms where it is being tried
out in Michigan, it is returning 35 to 40
bushels, and in some instances, even as
much as As bushels. Ii is a strain of
grain, which under official test, cover
ing a number of years, has proved that
it will produce twice as many bushels
on given area as any common rye
grown in the state. 1t opens way to
doubling Michigan's rye yield without
the employing OF an additional farm
hand or the blowing of another acre OF
sod.
AS general thing, the men engaged
in scientific and extension work are
prone to be overly reticent in making
claims for any crop, but they have cast
off some of their reserve in the case of
Rosen. Rosen has officially been de-
scribed as spectacular"
This is what Michigan Agricultural
college bulletin says about it:
"Of all the valuable pedigreed grains
developed by the Michigan Agricultural
college, Rosen rye has been the most
spectacular in its performance. Rosen
rye practically doubles the yield of
common rye where conditions are equal.
"Any farmer who grows rye, knows
that, taking the average production
year in and year out, 10. bushels is
about all he can expect and when he
harvests 20 bushels per acre he is get
ting an exceptionally good crop of
common rye. But any farmer who has
had experience with Rosen rye will
agree that he is getting small yield
for this variety when his crop doesn't
do better than 20 bushels per acre.
There are several thousand acres of
Rosen rye in the state this year and
the pure variety is going to average
close to 80 bushels per acre. A field
each in Branch, Jackson and Ingham
counties, which have been inspected,
give promise of 35 to 40 bushels per
acre. And this is not at all surprising,
for such yields have frequently been
obtained in the last five years.
RYE has bad reputation in some
sections of the state, and many farmers
declare in fact that they would not sow
kernel of it, II is not the purpose of
this article, however, to convince such
people that they should grow rye. But
the fact remains, nevertheless that
there are large areas in the state better
adapted to rye than wheat, and further
the former fits better into the rotations
best adapted to some soils, such as
those of the light, sandy type. For
these, Rosen rye is an ideal crop.
"Rosen rye was first distributed in
small amounts in 1912, and without ex-
ception wherever the pure variety has
been tried il has replaced all others. AS
with corn, rye cross-fertilizes easily.
This is not generally understood and in
a majority of cases where Rosen has
been obtained in limited amount and
sown beside common rye, the results
have been bad. While there will
probably be no difference in the yield
the first year, the effects have become
plainly apparent during the year follow
ing this cross in the improperly filled
heads which develop and which are so
characteristic Of common rye.
Consequently, of the $4,000 acres OF
so-called Rosen rye in the state, prac-
tically not over five percent is really
pure Rosen. This crossed Rosen will
undoubtedly be much superior to COM
mon rye, but il will not compare very
favorably with pure Rosen strain.
"Under the auspices Of the Michigan
Crop Improvement association, inspec-