Rye
an important cereal. It was originally a wild grass. It is thought to have been cultivated first in the region between the Black Sea and the Caspian. There are several large bottle-brush grasses in America that are properly known as wild rye. The cultivation of rye has some advantages over that of oats, wheat, and barley. It is little subject to attack by the chinch bug. It is less readily killed by continued frost. It grows fairly well on light or exhausted land without requiring a rotation or change of crops, being in the latter respect more like timothy or wild meadow grass. Little chaff is released in threshing. Rye is raised chiefly in northern Europe. Its flour makes the black rye bread of Germany, Russia, and the Scandinavian countries. Mixed with wheaten flour it is gaining favor in America. Rye is the foundation of Kvas, the Russian national drink, of Holland gin, and of rye whiskey. Statistics for 1907-9 place the annual yield of rye as follows:
Country. Bushels.
| United States | 32,000,000 |
| Canada | 2,000,000 |
| Great Britain and Ireland | 2,000,000 |
| Sweden | 26,008,000 |
| Denmark | 18,000,000 |
| Netherlands | 14,000,000 |
| Belgium | 20,000,000 |
| France | 53,000,000 |
| Spain | 26,000,000 |
| Italy | 3,200,000 |
| Germany | 400,000,000 |
| Austria-Hungary | 150,000,000 |
| Roumania | 5,000,000 |
| Bulgaria | 7,000,000 |
| Russia in Europe | 700,000,000 |
| Russia in Asia | 30,194,000 |
| Japan | 35,000,000 |
TOTAL WORLD'S CROP.
| 1904 | 1,742,000,000 |
| 1905 | 1,496,000,000 |
| 1906 | 1,432,000,000 |
| 1907 | 1,537,000,000 |
| 1908 | 1,587,000,000 |
The Orange Judd Farmer's estimate of the American rye crop of 1909 is:
State. Bushels.
Pennsylvania . . . . . 5,175,000
Texas . . . . . 20,000
Arkansas . . . . . 30,000
Tennessee ..... 132,000
West Virginia ..... 156,000
Kentucky ..... 154,000
Ohio ..... 646,000
Michigan ..... 4,695,000
Indiana ..... 880,000
Illinois ..... 1,003,000
Wisconsin ..... 4,794,000
Minnesota ..... 1,720,000
Iowa ..... 1,044,000
Missouri ..... 225,000
Kansas ..... 686,000
Nebraska ..... 1,365,000
North Dakota ..... 648,000
South Dakota ..... 510,000
California ..... 990,000
Oregon ..... 180,000
Washington ..... 60,000
Oklahoma ..... 36,000
Other states ..... 2,640,000
Total ..... 30,152,000