a grain closely related to wheat and barley. For centuries rye has been one of the most important food plants. It is supposed to be a native of western Asia, but it has been cultivated in Europe from time immemorial. Rye thrives in climates and in soils which forbid wheat, requires less manure and ripens faster. It is extensively grown in northern Europe, and rye bread forms an important article of food for the laboring classes of many parts of Russia, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Holland and Prussia. Unmalted rye meal, mixed with barley malt and fermented, forms the wash whence is distilled the spirit known as Holland gin (See GIN). The straw is long and flexible, does not rot easily and is used by brickmakers and thatchers, also for stuffing horse collars and mattresses and for making baskets, straw hats and bonnets. A fungus sometimes grows on rye, causing the disease known as ergot. Ergot makes rye so infected dangerous for food. See ERGOT