RYE  . This cereal, known botanically as Secale cereale, is supposed to be the cultivated

form of S. montanum, a wild perennial species occurring in the more elevated districts of parts of the Mediterranean region, and W. to Central Asia . Its cultivation does not appear to have been practised at a very early date, relatively speaking . Alphonse de Can- dolle, who has col- lected the evidence on this point, draws attention to the fact that no traces of this cereal have hitherto been found in Egyptian monu- ments, or in the earlier Swiss dwell- ings, though seeds have been found in association with weapons of the Bronze period at Olmutz . The ab- sence of any special name for it in the Semitic, Chinese and Sanskrit languages is also adduced as an indication of its comparatively re- cent culture . On the other hand, the general occurrence of the name in the more modern lan- Rye (Secale cereale), about s nat. size. g u ages of N. t, single spikelet; 2, single flower with awned plume and palea; 3, pistil; 4, grain . Europe, under I, 2, 4, about two-thirds nat. size. various modifica- tions, points to the cultivation of the plant then, as now, in those regions . The origin of the Latin name secale, which exists in a modified form among the Basques and Bretons, is not explained . Rye is a tall-growing annual grass, with fibrous roots, flat, narrow, ribbon-like bluish-green leaves, and erect or decurved cylindrical slender spikes like those of barley . The spikelets contain two or three flowers, of which the uppermost is usually imperfect . The outer glumes are acute and glabrous, the flowering glumes lance-shaped, with a comb-like keel at the back, and the outer or lower one prolonged at the apex into a very long bristly awn . Within these are three stamens surrounding a compressed ovary, with two feathery stigmas .

When ripe, the grain is of an elongated

oval form, with a few hairs at the summit . When the ovaries of the plant become affected with a peculiar fungus (Claviceps purpurea) they become blackened and distorted, constituting ergot (q.v.) . In the S. of Great Britain rye is chiefly or solely cultivated as a forage-plant for cattle and horses, being usually sown in autumn for spring use, after the crop of roots, turnips, &c.; is exhausted, and before the clover and lucerne are ready . For forage purposes it is best to cut early, before the leaves and haulms have been exhausted of their supplies to benefit thegrain . In the N. of Europe, and more especially in Scandinavia, Russia and parts of N . Germany, rye is the principal cereal; and in nutritive value, as measured by the amount of gluten it contains, it stands next to wheat, a fact which furnishes the ex-planation of its culture in N. latitudes ill-suited for the growth of wheat . Rye bread or black bread is in general use in N . Europe . The straw, which is prized on account of its length, is used for making hats and in the manufacture of paper . The bran is used for cattle-food and poultices, and the grain in the distillery .