RYE, BUCKWHEAT, AND MILLET

79.
RYE is a grain that grows very much like wheat, but it can be cultivated in poorer soil and colder
climates than this cereal. It is not used alone to any great extent for anything except the making of bread,
but it is particularly well adapted for this purpose, since it contains a large amount of gluten, the food



substance necessary for successful bread making, and, like wheat, will make yeast bread when used
alone. Bread made of rye flour has a dark color and a peculiar flavor, and while these characteristics
make it unpopular with some persons it is used extensively by certain classes, especially persons from
foreign countries. Besides its use for bread, rye is frequently combined with other cereals in the
manufacture of ready-to-eat cereal foods.
80. BUCKWHEAT
is used less extensively than any of the other cereals already mentioned, but it
has an advantage over them in that it thrives in soil that is too poor for any other crop. The buckwheat
plant grows to a height of about 2 feet and blossoms with a white flower. Its seeds, which are three-
cornered in shape, bear a close resemblance to beechnuts, and because of this peculiar similarity, this
cereal was originally called
beech wheat
. Practically the only use to which buckwheat is put is to grind it
into very fine flour for griddle cakes, recipes for which are given in another Section.
81. MILLET
as a cereal food finds practically no use in the United States; in fact, in this country it is
grown almost exclusively for cattle food, the stalk of the plant being large and juicy and containing a
considerable amount of food. The seed of this plant furnishes the smallest grain known for use as food,
and because of its size it is very hard to gather. Millet, however, is used extensively by some of the
people of Southern Asia and India, who depend on it very largely, since, in some localities, it forms their
only cereal food. In these countries, it is ground into flour and used for making bread.