CENTRAL EXPERIMENTAL FARM OF CANADi 



Bulletin No. 6, January, 1890 (pp. 25). 



Barley, William Saunders. — The demaud for Canadian barley 

 has largely fallen off of late in the United States, from the fact that 

 corn, rice, glucose, and other materials are being substituted for barley 

 in the manufacture of beer. It is therefore urged that Canadian farm- 

 ers should seek a market for their surplus barley in Great Britain. 

 Hitherto six rowed barley has been chiefly grown in Canada. British 

 brewers prefer two rowed barley. A practical test by a Canadian 

 maltster is reported which showed the superiority of the two-rowed 

 barley for malting purposes. This is partially explained by the fact 

 that the weight of the husk in proportion to the kernel is less in the 

 two rowed than in the six- rowed varieties. 



To find whether two-rowed barley can be successfully grown in 

 Canada, tests on a comparatively large scale have been undertaken by 

 the several experimental farms, and these have been supplemented by 

 experimental trials by a large number of farmers in difl'ereut parts of 

 the Dominion. 



The cultivation of barley on the Central Experimental Farm has been carried on 

 with many sorts anil in several ditferent methods. Experiments with field crops have 

 been conducted to ascertain the relative yield and quality of the several varieties 

 under such conditions, and also with the Individual sorts grown under exactly the 

 same circumstances. 



A very uniform piece of light sandy loam land of the Central Farm 

 was selected on which fifty kernels of each of numerous varieties of 

 barley were planted. A mixture of nitrate of soda, bone-dust, and un- 

 leached wood ashes was used as a fertilizer. When the crop of 1888 

 was harvested, one of the best examples of each sort was thrashed and 

 cleaned separately, the number of heads counted, and the yield ascer- 

 tained i a second selection of three or four more of the most vigorous 

 plants was similarly treated, and those remaining were harvested to- 

 gether and their average yield obtained. During 1889 the same varie- 

 ties were planted together with additional sorts. The results are given 

 in a table which contains data for thirty-five varieties. The length of 

 the growing season of the two-rowed barleys varied considerably for 



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