The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1923-04-13
RYE FRIEND OF
HOME GARDENER
Decreased Number of Work Ami
mails Makes It Difficult to
Maintain Soil Fertility.
PLANT sOIL-BUlLDING CROPS
cIovers and Other Legumes Are Good,
as They Gather Nitrogen From the
Airline viii Prevent
Any Sourness.

prepared by the United States Department
of Agriculture.)
Years ago, when manure was plenti-
full arou.ld cities and on farms, the
question of keeping up the fertility of
the back yard or farm garden was very
simple, but with the decreased num-
Der of work animals now being kept,
especially in cities, it is no longer pos
sible to get manure in sufficient guam
tity to maintain the fertility of our
gardens. The farmer has been COM
PEELED to plant soil-building crops in
order to keep up his fertility and the
backyard gardener must necessarily
resort to some similar method. Glow
ers and other legume crops are consid-
cred best for this purpose, as they
gather nitrogen from the air, but
legume crops are subject to good
many limitations. and do not always
fill the bill for the home gardener.
Possibly old-fashioned rye comes near
er answering the requirements of the
home gardener than any other crop
Rye grows anywhere from North to
South, or in the Northwestern sections !;
barley may be used instead, suggests
the United States Department of Ag-
riculture.
Work During Winter.
One home gardener who always has
a good garden follows the practice of
buying small supply of seed rye
along in August and keeping pailfull
of this seed hanging inside the door Of
his garage, where his garden tools are
kept. Beginning about the middle or
Goth of August, this gardener follows
the practice Of sowing rye on every
foot of his garden that becomes vacant.
In fact, he goes further than this and
s0ws rye between practically all Of his
fall CROPS. The rye makes a good
start in the autumn and gets firm
hold ON the soil before winter sets. in.
All during the winter, whenever the
ground is not frozen, the roots of the
rye are developing and working their
way between the soil particles and are
picking up every choice morsel of
plant food that nature sets free in the
SOIL
This gardener keeps chickens and
all during the winter, when the ground
is not covered with snow, he turns his
laying hens out upon the growing rye
In his garden for short time before
they go to roost In the evening. This
gives the hens the necessary green
feed to stimulate egg production and
costs practically nothing.
Rye Turned Under.
In theA springtime, as soon as the soil
is dry enough to be plowed or spaded,
and before the rye has made any APP
preciable growth, the land is complete
ly turned over and the roots of the rye
have formed almost perfect mat or
sod in the top three inches of soil. In
turning under the rye the important
thing Is to see that 1t all goes under,
because if any of the tors are left
sticking1out of the soil they will grow
and have to be worked out with hoe
later. In ten days to two weeks after
the rye is turned under the roots decay
and, as there is not enough, of the tops
of the rye present to give any difficulty,
the soil breaks down in loose mellow
loan and every particle of the plant
food that the rye has picked up during
the winter time becomes available for
the summer garden crops.
The rye not only prevents the gar
den soil from washing during the win
ter. but adds organic matter or green
manure to the soil. A very little lime
should be sprinkled over the surface
after the rye is plowed or spaded un-
der, to correct any possible sourness
that might be caused by the decay of
the rye itself If more gardeners
would plant rye or barley or even
wheat on their garden soil during the
fall of the year, we would hear less
about the scarcity and need of manure
for gardens.