FIELD CROPS. 437 



for malting; purposes, and considers the effects of manures on these 

 qualities. 



The 2 subspecies, Hordewm distiehum and //. hexastiehum, are 

 described, and the countries from which they are imported by English 

 brewers and maltsters are mentioned. It is stated that the importation 

 of varieties of II. distiehum depends mainly on its price and the supply 

 of good barley of this kind grown in England, but that aside from these 

 factors varieties of //. hexastiehum are used because they contain 

 "about 10 per cent more of insoluble matter, husk, etc., than Cheva- 

 lier barley malt and can be much more close-crushed and yet give good 

 'drainage' in the mash tun," and that "it is generally modified in the 

 malting process in a somewhat different manner from English barley 

 and yields an extract which, though less in quantity, is in some impor- 

 tant respects and for some descriptions of brewing better in quality 

 than we get by the lower qualities of English two-rowed barley in most 

 seasons." 



A number of opinions of scientists and practical agriculturists as to 

 the effects of manures on the quality of malting- barley are given, and 

 the requirements of the maltster in respect of such qualities in barley 

 as are likely to be affected by cultural conditions are considered. A 

 few propositions bearing on the question of "quality" in barley are 

 laid down as follows : " First, it is the endosperm and mainly the starch 

 of the endosperm which is the source of the brewer's raw material. 

 Secondly, the grain which has the largest proportion of endosperm to 

 embryo will, other things being equal, yield as malt the most extract 

 to the brewer. This is usually the largest-bodied grain, that is to say, 

 a sample of barley of which 1,000 individual corns weigh 50 gm. will 

 have a higher proportion of endosperm to embryo and therefore a 

 higher starch percentage than a sample of which 1,000 corns weigh 

 only 30 gm. Size of corn, then, mainly determines the quantity of 

 brewer's material yielded by a given bulk of barley. Thirdly, the mod- 

 ification desireil by the maltster is the same as the first stage of that 

 modification which in the ordinary course of nature the seed would go 

 through in germinating, and it is very largely the degree of amenabil- 

 ity of the endosperm to modification during malting that differentiates 

 good from bad malting barley. Amenability to modification depends 

 very much on the state of maturation of the grain." 



The maltsters work is described as converting starch into a suitable 

 condition for the brewer's use, and to sufficiently conserve and produce 

 the soluble ferments, such as the diastase and others necessary in the 

 brewing process. Attention is called to the fact that the object of the 

 maltster is simply to break down the cell walls of the endosperm and 

 thus to liberate the starch granules, and although some sugars are 

 formed in the malting stage the process is carried on only to set the 

 starch free, converting as little as possible into sugar. The process is 

 starch liberation and not starch conversion as is commonly but erro- 

 neously supposed. "A grain in which the cell walls inclosing the starch 



