Rural School Leaflet 



1203 



[ 





How many boys and girls know the average length of celery stalks, 

 the number of leaflets there are on each leaf, what kind of flowers the 

 plant bears, the number and size of the seeds, and in what manner the 

 stalks are blanched? 



Barley.* — -This grain offers material for interesting lessons. From time 

 to time have the pupils collect in the neighborhood, for comparison, 

 a few specimens of barley and some heads of wheat, oats, and rye. The 

 following suggestions and questions may be helpful 

 in conducting the lessons: 



i . Which of the other grains does barley most nearly 

 resemble? What cultural methods in growing barley 

 are used in the neighborhood? What soil is best 

 adapted to growing barley ? Where is the seed obtained ? 

 How much is sown per acre? What is the average 

 yield per acre in the neighborhood? 



2. Note the sharp, rasp-like beards of the barley. 

 Is there a difference in the beards when green and 

 when ripe? In which condition is barley more safe as 

 food for cattle? In what form is barley fed mostly to 

 stock? Compare the length of the beards with the 

 length of the grain-bearing part. 



3. It will interest boys and girls to dissect a head of 

 barley. In Fig. 1 can be seen one of the many 

 spikelets that make up the head, dissected into its 

 flower parts. With the older and more common types 

 of barley the flowering glume is adherent to the 

 kernel and can be removed only with difficulty. Still 

 another type of barley has a flowering glume which is 

 free. Barley types are ordinarily grouped, according 

 to the number of rows of spikelets arranged on the 

 sides of the main stem, into the two-rowed and six- 

 rowed types. Sometimes, however, in the case of the 

 six-rowed type the two rows on each of the two 

 opposite sides overlap at the bases of their spikelets, 

 giving the head of grain the appearance of being 

 four-sided, or, as we say, four-rowed. The heads of 

 the two-rowed type are usually longer and the grain is somewhat 

 larger than those of the six-rowed type. The six-rowed type gives 

 slightly greater yields of grain, however, due to the greater number of 

 grains produced, and is therefore more extensively grown in this 

 country. In the illustration the main types are shown. 



Fig. 1 . — a , Entire 

 spikelet; b, two outer 

 empty glumes; c , 

 flowering glume , 

 bearing beard; d, 

 kernel separated 

 from flowering 

 glume; e, palea, 

 which holds kernel 

 within flowering 

 glume 



♦Important facts included in the lessons on barley, redtop, and white clover were furnished by E. V 

 Hardenburg. 



