THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



103 



rience been readily prevented l)j' the addition to the 

 guano of at least an equal bulk of common salt.) 

 In Bavaria, we find from the same authority, the 

 farmers, after using guano for some years, now find 

 it necessary to apply it in larger quantities than 

 formerly, in order to obtain the same results ; and, 

 from some calculations of the comparative cost of 

 the production of turnips in Scotland, it resulted 

 " that the average cost of a ton of turnips from 

 guano in six distinct experiments, in different parts 

 of the country, was 3s. i^d., while the cost of a ton 

 from superphosphates (made by different manufac- 

 turers), in four districts, is '2s. '2fd., the cost of the 

 manure in both cases only being calculated ; so 

 that there is a difference of ll-jd. per ton in favour 

 of superphosphates ; and as the average crop of the 

 experiments was about 25 tons per acre, we have a 

 profit of £1 4s. per acre by using superphosphates 

 instead of guano. 



The reason why the soil gets " tired" of certain 

 crops and fertilizers is well worthy of still more ex- 

 tended examinations than it has yet received. The 



land " tires" we all know of clover. Many farmers 

 will tell you that their soils are getting more and 

 more tired of swedes, in spite, too, of all the artifi- 

 cial dressings which ihcy so generously bestow 

 upon them. Hence one reason amongst several 

 why mangel is so increasingly cultivated. Let these 

 little difficulties inspire us with fresh ardour for 

 more careful researches. There is probably some- 

 thing extracted from the soil by particular plants, 

 which, although of importance to the growth of the 

 crop, is yet too minute to have been yet detected. 

 Certain predatory insects, too (some, perchance, 

 yet unknown to us, of a very minute yet pernicious 

 character), follow all crops, gradually extending 

 themselves to the farmer's loss, and no crop has 

 been more subject to these than the turnip. In 

 arriving, however, at such a conclusion, let us not 

 forget that the cultivation of no crop has been more 

 extensively aided by science. If the chemist had 

 done nothing for agriculture than discovering the 

 use of superphosphate of lime, he would even then 

 have been well entitled to the cultivator's gratitude. 



BARLEY. 



In Scotland, there has not been the same atten- 

 tion bestowed in selecting and propagating new 

 varieties of barley and here as of wheat and of oats, ' 

 nor has the introduction of varieties from other j 

 countries been generally successful. Hence, the 

 kinds in cultivation are limited in number, and 

 none of these are comparatively newly propagated 

 varieties. To explain this apparent indifference on 

 the part of the growers of barley is impossible. 

 Perhaps the prevalence of the belief that barley is 

 not generally so profitable a crop as wheat or oats, 

 except where the soil and climate are highly suita- 

 ble, may account in part for the apathy displayed. 

 Whatever is the cause, the consequence is the cul- 

 tivation of a restricted number of kinds of barley 

 and here. 



Barley is cultivated mainly for the production of 

 ales and alcohol ; but a considerable quantity is 

 manufactured into pot-barley, Ulm-barley, and a 

 limited portion is ground into meal for bread, and 

 also for feeding stock. The light and inferior sam- 

 ples are principally used for feeding horses, being 

 generally prepared by boiling. 



Barley was at one time in more general cultiva- 

 tion than at present. Up to the beginning of the 

 present century, it occupied in part the place now 

 occupied by wheat, being then grown extensively 

 as a bread corn for the manufacturing of meal, 

 besides being made into pot-barley, Ulm-barley, 

 and for furnishing grain from which the extracts 

 ales and alcohol were obtained. The bread from 

 barley-meal was baked into scones — " supple 

 scones" — resembhng those made of wheaten flour. 

 Sometimes mashed potatoes were mixed with the 

 ineal — rarely wheaten flour. This kind of bread 



was mainly confined to the western side of Scotland, 

 but there oaten cakes formed the staple bread. 

 Mashlam bread— a mixture of barley and legumes 

 — was also in partial use over Scotland and the 

 north of England; but in the south-eastern counties 

 this was the principal bread of the working classes, 

 barley being mixed with beans and peas — generally 

 in the proportion of two bushels of the former to 

 one of the latter. From this were baked what is 

 usually known as gray bannocks. These were 

 usually above one inch in thickness, and were sel- 

 dom palatable to one unaccustomed to the bread, 

 except when a little soda was used to render the 

 bread lighter. On special occasions, such as 

 Hansel Monday, and sometimes on the occurrence 

 of an addition to the hind's family, a jjortion of 

 wheat was substituted for the barley, in part or 

 whole, along with the mixture of beans and j)eas— 

 the legumes being generally grown as a mixture 

 for a field crop. A taste for wheaten bread (white 

 bread) became general in the family of the hinds 

 about thirty years ago, but such an innovation was 

 generally regarded as wasteful extravagance, and 

 bakers' bread was rather covertly partaken of, un- 

 til within the last few years. 



The occurrence of low prices for wheat, simul- 

 taneous with the ojieration of a free tariff, rapidly 

 extended the use of wheaten bread ; which is now 

 taking the place of gray-bannocks— wheat being 

 substituted for barley in prciiaring the meal, trom 

 time immemorial, in the districts referred to, the 

 wages (gains) of the hinds have been paid in 

 kind — the bread corn being generally eighteen 

 bushels of barley, and eight bushels of beans and 

 peas ; the oats, raised from forty-eight to sixty 



