Oklahoma Farmer (Guthrie, Okla.), Vol. 17, No. 42, Ed. 1 Wednesday, March 17, 1909 Page: 1 of 16
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Vol. XVII. No.
GUTHRIE, OKLAHOMA, MARCH
1 9 0 9.
50 Cents per Year
Stock
and Dairy Annu£\%rch 24
will be Full of l cresting
RYE—THE BEGINNING OF A SE-
RIES OF ARTICLES ON FARM
CROPS.
(By Edwy. B. Reid.)
The cultivation of rye does not so
back in history nearly as far as that
of wheat and barley. It was unknown
to the anvcien1 Egyptians and Greeks,
and was introduced into the Roman
Empire not earlier than the beginning
of the Christian era, probably from
the N. E. Europe. It is still one of
the most important resources of
some European cvountries and is
said to have constituted one of the
chief sustenance of one-third of the
population as late as the last cen-
tury. It was grown with the wheat
and the two grains are still frequently
ground together into a flour called
meslin. Formerly, in this country, a
mixture of rye and corn meal was a
favorite combination for bread mak-
ing. Rye bread is still largely sold in
the cities, being preferred by many
for its pleasant flavor and close, even
texture.
Russia leads all other countries in
production with about 650,000.000 bu-
shels annually and an acreage amount-
ing to 34 per cent of the land. Ger-
many ranks next, and Scandinavia
third. The United States has pro-
duced an average yield of 30,000,000
bushels during the five years preceed-
ing 1907. In 1906 the average in Ok-
lahoma devoted to rye was 5,732 and
the production for the preceeding year
was 42,551 bushels. The average
price per bushel was $.65, making
the total value of the Oklahoma crop
$27,791 for the year of 1906. The in-
crease in the acreage was great dur-
ing the years of 1906 and 1907, being
over 2,COO acres. The average sell-
ing price was above the highest that
was received for the cereal in any of
the states the year following. The
state of Michigan raises the more rye
taking it year after year than any
other state in the Union. She may
well do this as she has a great deal
of land that needs reviving and the
rye is sown to bring the land up
when other crops fail to start.
The average production per acre in
the United States is 16.7 bushels.
The legal weight per bushel is 56
pounds in all states except California
where it is 54 pounds.
Rye is used for the production of
flour, as a feed for stock, and ror the
manufacture of alcohol and spiritu-
ous liquors. Rye flour is more avail-
able than any other except wheat foT
bread making because of the large
proportion of gluten which gives the
adhesive qulaity to the dough and
results in the fine characteristis tex-
ture . when baked. In Europe rye
bread is regarded as rriore nutritious
than that made from wheat. Diges-
tion experiments, however have shown
that fine wheat flour contains the
greater net energy and greater avail-
able energy.
Ground rye is somewhat more di-
gestible than the whole grain for
stock feeding. Some care is needed
to introduce it into the ration gradu-
ally in combination with other grain,
but with this precaution it may be
fed as a substitute for corn when its
price will justify. Its protein con-
tent (6.7 per cent.) Is much less than
that of corn and wheat, but its com-
position is much more uniform from
year to year than that of any other
grain used for stock feeding.
Rye straw is lightly valued to man-
ufacture paper for packing purposes
—including packing of fruit trees,
and as bedding for domestic animals.
In Germany it is largely employed
for the manufacture of hats and other
articles of that nature. It is prob-
able that the demand for the straw
alone keeps up production more than
the grain alone would do. Rye-bran
and distillers grains are by-products
but are rather low in protein content.
In growing rye it is usually given
the same place that wheat is in the
rotation crops; that is, after corn or
oats. It makes a very desirable nurse
crop for seeding poor land to grass
and clover. Because of its hardiness,
which is probably due to its greater
spread of roots than that of the wheat
or oats, it is more frequently used
than any other cereal for beginning
the process of building up the old
and worn out soils. If seeding to
grass and clover does not succeed
the first time, the green rye is plowed
under as manure and the resulting
increase in humus in the soil wili us-
ually make the grass seed successful
at the next attempt. This adap'a-
bility of rye to the lighter soils has
discredited it as a valuable crop an.1
pensive element. Rye is usually sown
in the fall at the rate of one to one-
and-a-hu'.f bushels to the acre. When
grown as a soiling crop; that is for
greer, feeding in the spring or in the
late fall, the seeding may be heavier
than this. Rye is frequently pastured
in the fall, especially if the culms be-
gin to form joints before winter. In
some cases this pasturing may be re-
peated in the early spring and yet
produce a satisfactory amount of ■
grain at harvest, though not of course
the full normal yieltf Spring pastur-
ing of wheat or oats would probably
be fatal to the crop.
Aside from the insect diseases that
are common to wheat, and also the
fungus diseases, rye is subject to eg-
got. When rye is thus affected it is
called spurred or horned rye. It is
a fungus smut-like enlargement and
malformation of the kernel and is
particularly harmful to cattle. It is
likely to cause abortion among cattle
if eaten to any extent, and sometimes
results in death. The fiield that has
been so affected should be put to
some hoed crop, as otherwise a volun-
teer crop of diseased rye would be
likely to start in the next spring.
Rye usually ripens about one week
earlier than winter wheat. It may be
cut and shocked like wheat, but does
clover or other legums may not bo
ami sowing t can be done at almost
anv time from early spring to snow
fall.
As already stated, little care has
yet been given to the production of
superioi varieties; so that practically
only two are in general use, winter
rye and spring rye. "Without doubt
the plumpness and chemical content
of the grain could be improved by
breeding, and its value be vary much
increased. In the rye crop of today
there is a great field awaiting the
man with individual enterprise and
initiative.
iiaiiiMiiiiimnmuHB
rmmTTTT >
Which Type of Ear are You Using for Your Seed Corn?
doubtless many farmers dislike to
grow it because of the advertisement
It seems as to the quality of soils as-
sociated with it. Because of this wil-
lingness on the part of the plant to
accept this poor soil, it has never
been given the chance that wheat, or
oats have had. It has rarely been
planted on the better soils and given
the chance to prove its true worth as
a crop.
At least in this country no steps
have been taken to improve the quali-
ty or amount of the grain by breeding
or selection. It is easily possible that
with proper care rye could be made as
profitable a general crop as wheat is
at its present time. It is worth tha
respectful if not the ysmpathetic at-
tention of any farmer that intends to
do little more than the average farm-
er.
The same principles apply to the
preparation of the soil and the meth-
od of seeding as in the case of winter
wheat; that is to say, the rye deserv-
es as careful treatment as the wheat.
It is even probable that if the com-
mercial fertilizer is used the response
would be as satisfactory as with
wheat, certainly if the fertilizer did
not contain too large a supply of nit-
rogen, which is usually the most ex-
not usually require to be capped as
the spikelets of the head lie closely
enough together for mutual protection
The higher price' paid for the straight
straw justitles considerable care in
preventing it from being tangled in
handling. A self-binding attachment
has been devised for binding the
straight straw as it comes from the
thresher; and in Germany the heads
are clipped off and the straw itself
unthreshed. Straw that was once
used only for fuel or fertilizer is put
up by these people into the most beau-
tiful and useful forms. Plates, dish-
es, baskets, boxes, tables, trunks, fans
hats, caps, mats, etc., are made by
the million and sent to all parts of
the world. In a tract containing six
square miles there are 10,000 persons
employed in making these articles of
straw. The industry reenforced by
American enterprise and ingenuity
could probably be' introduced into the
northern parts of the United States
with great profit.
Besides its use as a soiling crop
when other green forage is not avail-
able, rye has been frequently and
satisfactorily used as a cover crop,
sow it in standing corn before the last
cultivation, and in orchards. The
seeding is always sure when crii
INFLUENCE OF FERTILIZER UPON
THE COMPOSITION OF WHEAT.
By Prof. Harry Snyder, in Journal of
American Chemical Society.
In order to study the influence of
fertilizers upon the composition of
wheat, sixty samples grown at twelva
different localities in Minnesota and
fertilized with different kinds of fer-
tilizer were analyzed. At each of the
twelve places where the fertilizer
tests \Tere made a unl'orm piece of
land was selected and five plots of
one-quarter acre each were staked off.
Each plot received similar treatment
as to cultivation and seeding. On
one of the plots no fertilizer was used,
and on the remaining plots, potash,
superphosphate, nitrogen and com-
plete fertilizers were applied. Tha
grain from each of the plots was har-
vested and threshed separately, and
bushel samples were shipped to the
chemical laboratory of the Minnesota
.experiment station for analysis and
milling and technical tests.
The tests showed that fertilizers
Improved the quality of the grain.
Improvement 1n the quality of the
grain follows as a result of the in-
crease in fertility. The soil must
be built up in the fertilizer
it lacks (nitrogen, phosphoric acid or
potash), and this must be ascertain-
ed by experiments. In many localities
where these experiments were made,
the climatic conditions were unfavor-
able, but it was noted that the qualitj
of the grain on the fertilized plot
as to weight per busboi. plumpness,
maturity and uniformity of kernels,
was better than on the unfertilized
plots. This would indicate that dur-
ing unfavorable seasons crops pro-
duced upon soils of low fertility are
more susceptible to adverse climatic
conditions than crops grown upon
soils of high fertility.
In all of the individual tests ex-
cept one, the. highest percentage of
nitrogen was secured from the wheat
grown upon the plots receiving either
nitrogen alone or the complete fertil-
izer of which nitrogen formed a part.
A similar result Was secured In 1905
from a more limited number of trials.
Increasing the supply of nitrogen in
the soil slightly increased the amourt
of nitrogen in the grain. This in-
crease in nitrogen alone, unless asso-
ciated with the mineral 's.-lmonts, may
result In a poorer quality of grain,
for wiille nitrogen alone increased the
crude protein content of the grain,
to secure improvement in quality as
well, the nitrogen must toe associated
with the other essential elements of
plant food. The results indicate that
in many cases It Is possible to in-
crease the protein content of wheat
(Continued on Page Twelve.)
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Greer, Frank H. Oklahoma Farmer (Guthrie, Okla.), Vol. 17, No. 42, Ed. 1 Wednesday, March 17, 1909, newspaper, March 17, 1909; Guthrie, Oklahoma. (https://gateway.okhistory.org/ark:/67531/metadc88230/m1/1/: accessed April 18, 2024), The Gateway to Oklahoma History, https://gateway.okhistory.org; crediting Oklahoma Historical Society.