Nov. 19.1931 Ash Content of Awn, Rachis, and Palea 441 



In Table III it will be seen that the variety containing the highest 

 percentage of ash in the rachis was an awnless variety. The second 

 highest was a hooded sort. Among those varieties having an ash con- 

 tent over 9 per cent in the rachis were the awnless and hooded varieties 

 referred to above, a variety from north Europe which was known to 

 shatter badly, and C. I. No. 1449, a short-awned variety from Japan. 

 In the original importation from which this last variety was obtained, 

 there were two types of barley, differing only in the length of awn. CI. 

 1449, which was short-awned, contained 10. i per cent of ash in the rachis, 

 while C. I. 1450, the long-awned strain, contained only 8 per cent. 



The rachises of most of the common 2-rowed varieties are rather high 

 in ash, many of them containing from 7 to 9 per cent when grown at 

 Chico. The two samples of C. I. 1121 were taken from different parts 

 of the nursery. The analyses show that there was very little variation 

 due to location. C. I. No. 957, 973, and 972 are all of the Manchuria 

 type. They contain less ash in their rachises than do most of the 2-rowed, 

 but distinctly more than do the Coast types, C. I. No. 1076, 190, and 

 1074, which follow them in the table. 



A number of smooth-awned varieties of hybrid origin are found in the 

 table. These were included because of the potential economic impor- 

 tance of smooth-awned strains. The awn of the common barley is ex- 

 tremely harsh and is very objectionable to farmers and feeders. The 

 annual acreage of barley is undoubtedly reduced because of the discom- 

 fort in handling the crop. On the other hand, it is known that the awn 

 possesses a physiological function and it is improbable that maximum 

 yields can be obtained from awnless and hooded varieties. In order 

 to retain the functional value of the awn and at the same time to remove 

 its objectionable features, the smooth-awned strains have been pro- 

 duced. 



From the analyses given it appears that the smoothness of the awn has 

 in no wise limited its function. One smooth-awned strain is included 

 which has an ash content in the rachis of over 9 per cent. There are 

 two strains with ash contents of nearly 8 per cent. Three others are 

 found at the very bottom of the table with an ash content in the rachis 

 of about 5 per cent. It is evident that in the latter varieties the low ash 

 content is not due to any inactivity of the awn, as the awns themselves 

 contain over 30 per cent of ash, indicating that they have been very 

 active in transpiration. As can be seen in Table II, the Hannchen 

 variety would come in the upper part of the list given in Table III. 



ASH OF THE PALEAS 



Ash determinations were made on the paleas of the samples reported 

 in Table I. These determinations are found in Table V. The ash 

 content of the paleas is quite comparable with that of the awn as far as 

 the nature of the daily deposits are concerned. While the total per- 



