l8o4» On the Matt Tax, ^^ 



the northern counties of Scotland, there arc, at a medium, five 

 degrees of latitude, and four degrees of heat in the average tem- 

 perature of the summer months, which produces a very great 

 difference in the seasons of seed-time and harvest ; in the 

 process of vegetation ; in the riches of the farina, in 

 the thickness of the hull, in the ripening of the grain, 

 and in its intrinsic value, llie nortlieni counties of Eng- 

 land may be equalled by the southern comities of Scotland, but 

 are far superior in point of climate, and almost every thing else, 

 to the Highland, and northern districts of the island : and Scotch 

 bear, or big, ca.uiot be compared in any respect with English 

 barley, except that it will grow and ripen on a soil, and in a 

 situation and season, wliere the other would not at all, or verv 

 rarely succeed. 



The differences between English barley and Scotch bear or 

 big, are many and great: the following are selected as the most 

 remarkable. 



ij-^, English barley is not only much weightier per bushel, 

 but even when less weighty, yields more meal or pot barlev, 

 still more pearl barley, and far more ale and ardent spirits. 



idly'y English barley is more equally ripened, from the 

 grounds being more level ; and the size of every grain is also 

 more nearly equal, a matter of great consequence to a maltster ; 

 whereas from the unevenness of the ground, and the declivity 

 of hilly grounds exposed to the north, Scotch bear ripens 

 very unequally, and the grains are very unequal in point of size. 



^dlyy At an average, ten grains of English barley weigh 

 fourteen of the best Scotch bear, or big, seventeen grains of 

 middling bear, and twenty-one of weak bear, such as is often 

 found in Scotland in late seasons. Any person who looks at two 

 stalks, one of the English two rowed barley, and the other of 

 the four or six rowed bear, or big, will see this difference 

 at once. 



But, to put it beyond all doubt, the writer of this paper 

 weighted a pound of English barley, another of the best Scotch 

 bear, a third of middling bear, and a fourth of weak Scotch 

 bear, the produce of his own glebe (or parsonage lands), and 

 carefully counted the number of grains in each pound 

 Avoirdupois. The English barley contained almost exactly 

 10,000 grains in the pound, there being only io,oi6 grains in 

 all, of which 24 were of oats, that had grown among the bar- 

 ley : The pound of best Scotch bear contained 14,112 ; of mid- 

 dling bear, almost exactly 17,000 (only live less^ ; and of weak 

 bear, 21,248 grains. This experiment, which anyone may repeat, 

 puts the difference of the grains beyond all dispute. 



^thlyy In the process of malting, a quarter of English barley 

 swells much more than a quarter of Scotch bear, or big, does, 



I> 4 Adiile 



