161 



THE FAUMEK'S MAGAZINE. 



bushels about the beginning of the present cen- 

 tury, l)eing partly manufactured into meal for por- 

 ridge, and partly sold. From the change in the 

 habits of the people, it is a question for the em- 

 ployers and employed to consider whether it would 

 not be a mutual advantage to both to substitute 

 wheat in part or in whole for the barley. 



With advancing agriculture, the period of sow- 

 ing barley has become much earlier than formerly. 

 During the first quarter of the present century, the 

 sowingof barley seldom commenced before the last 

 week of April, ending with the first week of June, 

 Indeed, " here seed time," as it was then called, 

 was betwixt the Terms — 15th to 26th May. In 

 the south-eastern counties barley was usually 

 taken after the turnip crop, especially where the 

 land was not cleared of the turnips previous to 

 winter. The period of sowing was usually t?ie end 

 of April. Barley thus occupied the second place 

 in the rotation, this being a four, five, or six course. 

 In the Carse districts where barley occupied the 

 fourth place in the sLx-course rotation, the land 

 received a spring fallowing — three spring furrows, 

 with the necessary harrowing and rolling to pul- 

 verize the soil for the reception of the seed. Sow- 

 ing proceeded during the month of May. With 

 the extension of thorough draining the land is now 

 earlier seeded over the whole of Scotland, although 

 in backward districts, the practice of the beginning 

 of the century is still followed. The general ad- 

 vance in the period of sowing is fully one month, 

 in some districts about six weeks. A considerable 

 breadth of barley is now grown after a cereal crop 

 — wheat or oats. Manure is usually applied. 

 When barley is taken after wheat, grass seeds — 

 a mixture of ryegrass and clovers — are sometimes 

 sown with the barley. By this practice the four- 

 course rotation is rendered a five-course. Where 

 barley is taken after the oat crop, portable manures 

 are applied — generally Peruvian guano. Growing 

 two white crops successionally is a partial return 

 to the general practice of the last century, and is 

 by many regarded as a breach of the rules of good 

 husbandry. It must not be assumed from this, 

 however, that the practice is not good husbandry, 

 especially when the barley is taken after the oat 

 crop, and is followed by a green crop. The facili- 

 ties aflForded for the maintaining fertiUty by the 

 application of portable manures renders the prac- 

 tice judicious ; especially as, by increasing the 

 number of crops in the rotation, potatoes, turnips, 

 and clovers can be grown with more uniform suc- 

 cess, than where these are repeated at shorter inter- 

 vals, and where partial failures have frequently 

 occurred. Local position, soil, and climate are the 

 principal elements in judging of the practice, which 

 gives a larger money return, both for the value of 

 the crops, and their being; grown more healthy, 

 while the fertility of the soil is maintained. 



None of the kinds grown in Scotland are what 

 are classed as winter barleys, although in many 

 situations several varieties would survive during 

 winter. An experiment with the Chevalier variety 

 m East Lothian— sowing it in the month of Octo- 

 ber—has proved successful, the crop ripening 

 nearly a month earlier than when sown in spring, 

 and producing a rerv fine sample. The periods 



during which barley occupies the ground, vary 

 with the variety, character ot the soil, and season. 

 The period of sowing now extends from the first 

 of March to the first week in June — the latter 

 being very exceptional. Period of reaping extends 

 from the beginning of August up to the middle or 

 even end of October. The more early kinds ripen 

 about ten to fifteen days before the later kinds, 

 but the sowing of the late varieties is confined to 

 the months of March and April, so that the barley 

 crop is usually reaped in the beginning of harvest. 



The aggregate produce of barley has been greatly 

 increased by the appliances of draining and porta- 

 ble manures. By the agency of these, barley is 

 now grown on all kinds of soils where the climate 

 is favourable, while on all soils the produce is 

 much more uniform, and the average quality very 

 much improved. Phosphatic manures act power- 

 fully as fertilizers for the growth of barley, but 

 nitrogenous manures exercise a power which is 

 most striking. Nitrate of soda applied in small 

 quantities greatly increases the produce of grain; 

 but it is by the action of Peruvian guano, furnish- 

 ing both nitrogen and phosphates, that the produce 

 of this cereal can be most largely increased. Va- 

 rious estimates have been made as to the increase 

 of produce which is due to the action of furrow- 

 draining, and to the fertilizing agency of portable 

 manures. The increase from furrow-draining lias 

 been estimated at one quarter per acre, and from 

 the use of portable manures from four to six 

 bushels. The increase from the two agencies com- 

 bined cannot be estimated at less than ten bushels 

 per acre. The introduction of Chevalier barley 

 has also increased the aggregate produce. In East 

 Lothian, for instance, where the three causes are in 

 operation, the acreable produce is upwards of 40 

 bushels; and on some farms, the produce of which 

 we have an opportunity of knowing, from records 

 carefully kept, and which embrace a considerable 

 period, the average acreable produce of barley has 

 increased sixteen bushels per Scotch acre within 

 the last twenty years. 



At one time great attention was bestowed on the 

 changing of seed, particularly from the coast to the 

 interior. Ware barley — that is, barley raised on 

 farms where seaweed was applied, always com- 

 manded a high price in spring. Barley raised on 

 Carse soils was also in demand for seed. In up- 

 land districts, the crop was often injured from 

 frost, consequently was unsuitable for seed ; but 

 there appear to have been other influencing causes 

 which led to this general belief. The desire to 

 secure a change of seed is not now general; indeed, 

 in some districts, is almost in abeyance. That there 

 are well-ascertained facts as to the beneficial effects 

 of a change of seed is undoubted; but where the 

 condition of the land is maintained, and the crops 

 properly ripened, the necessity of a change of seed 

 may be doubted. On one farm in Mid-Lothian, 

 the same barley has been raised without change 

 for forty years, and in favourable seasons this 

 grain has reached the extreme weight of 60 lbs. 

 per bushel. 



Common hereor bigg is now cultivated chiefly in the 

 Highlands and Western Islands : also to a limited 

 extent in upland districts, where the situation or 



