Slash-and-burn rye

In the Swedish book "Jordbrukslärans hufvudgrunder" (1908) by Johan Peter Arrhenius and Johan Fredrik Hallenborg we get a good basic description about the slash-and-burn rye. In the swedish litterature it is most often called midsummer rye but Finns call it 'kaskiruis'. The word 'midsummer rye referes to the fact that it was sown in a swidden area. It was swidden in early summer (late spring) and sown into the warm, but not hot, ash. It was important that it started to rain soon after the sowing. The rain should be a slow rain, so that the ash not harden on the surface, which would give difficulties for the rye to grow. 

Slash-and-burn rye is a bush-rye that is sown around midsummer. The same autumn it can be grazed or cut as green fodder for animals. Next year it grow as winter rye but it usually get ready a little later than normal winter rye."

Soil requirement

Slash-and-burn rye is most suitable for bog and fence soils and on good soils in general. It is possible to saw it on soils where normal winter rye not can manage and frost use to damage it. Slash-and-burn rye manage frost due to its long and strong root system. Slash-and-burn rye can be sown on all kind of soils where winter rye usually is sown but succeed best on light humus rich soils.

Plant rotation

Slash-and-burn rye should be sown on soil that have been plowed in the autumn and that is well prepared in the spring or early summer. The first year fodder yield and second year grain yield is larger if the soil is well fertilized.  

Time to sow

This kind of rye can best be sown after the first good rain that has come before or close to the midsummer. In the middle or end of June or in the start of July, depending on the weather and if there has been raining. Slash-and-burn rye should never be sown in dry soil. It is of most important that the soil is wet and that the seed can start to grow immediately. 

Seed for sowing

There should be used 1,3 hecto liter slash-and-burn rye mixed with oat, turnip or peas, using also of these each 1,3 hecto liter per ha (1 hectoliter = 100 liter). Slash-and-burn rye is a bush rye that bifucate a lot during the autumn and spring and should due to this be sown very rare. In order to avoid weeds and grass among the rye it should be grown together with above mentioned plants. (Arrhenius & Hallenborg, 1908)

Slash-and-burn rye was sown 3 seeds on the lenght of one bast shoe (virsut in Finnish). That is about 10 cm between the seeds. The seed was traditionally not covered when sown at the slash-and-burn area. But it is also said that there goes five seeds under one bast shoe, 10 seeds into a horse collar ("viisi jyvää virsun alle, kymmenen länkien sisään") as well as one seed under one horse foot ("jyvän hevon kavion alle"). In Savo the largest amount was 2,5 hecto liter / ha and the smallest 0.7 hecto liter / ha; most common have been 1,0-1,5 hecto liter / ha. (Grotenfelt, 1901)

You should never cultivate only some few bushes because you will then not get any harvest. Put at least 20 bushes to grow if you want to get a harvest so that there can be a cross-polination within the bushes.

Yield

Slash-and-burn rye give as good yield as winter rye when the circumstances are good. Mixed cultivation with slash-and-burn rye gives usually good results. Also slash-and-burn rye and clover is usually a good combination as slash-and-burn rye very rarely lay down. (Arrhenius & Hallenborg, 1908) If you sow this bushrye in the spring and let if grow as a bush the first summer it will get double yield compared to if you sow it in the autumn. You should cut it in the autumn or graze it with shep. There are results from sweden what it can also be grazed with cattle.