BARiiKY Production for Brewin<;. 523 



14. On all light soils the provision of moisture during growth 

 must be secured by deep cultivation, working the soil in the summer, 

 by taking barley after hoed crops, by early seeding, harrowing, and 

 destruction of weeds. 



15. In clay soils an excess of water must be avoided by careful 

 tillage, which keeps the soil in a favourable mechanical condition; 

 a crust must not be allowed to iorm on the surface. 



16. The barley must be fully ripe before being harvested. 



17. If the barley is quite dry. i1 should be ciirried immediately 

 it is cut. 



18. If for any reason this cannot be done, the barley must be 

 immediatelj^ tied into sheaves, and put into stooks. 



19. Care should be taken not to set the thrashiiig machine so close 

 as to damage the barley by breaking the skin or cliipping the ends of 

 the corn. The finer the sample of barley, the moje readily is it 

 skinned by careless thrashing'. 



20. The greatest care should be taken in the preparation of the 

 barley for sale, as the dressings, etc., are valueless to the brewer, 

 but can be usefully used for fodder. 



21. Barley of uniform quality sliould be offered for sale in as 

 large lots as possible. 



22. Damp barley must be protected from injury by drying, as, 

 if the g]ain germinates, it becomes useless for brewing. 



Thrashing. 



Couiplaints are frequently made by brewers and maltsters of the 

 injury done to barley m the process of thrashing owing to the fact 

 that the drum of the thrashing machiiie is set so close that many of 

 the grains are cracked or broken. The presence of sucli injured grains 

 greatly reduces the value of the liarley for malting purposes, as the 

 broken, bruised, or skinned grains fail to germinate, and soon show 

 signs of mould, thus leading to unsoundness in the malt and bad 

 results in the brewery. The injury caused by overdressing is not 

 limited to grains which are actually broken ; grains closely nipped at 

 one or both ends, or such as have been bruised and peeled, are 

 equally objectionable. In fact, if by too vigorous thrashing the husk 

 of the barley is damaged, although the damage may not be apparent, 

 irregulaties Id the malting, accompanied by the production of mould, 

 are likely to result. Therefore to prevent injury the following advice 

 is given : — 



1. When farmers commence a day's thrashing they should at the 

 outset, and repeatedly during the day, carefully examine the grain. 

 If any signs of injury are observed, the concave of the drum of the 

 machine should be slightly opened. It is better that part of the beard 

 should be left adhering to the grain than that any risk should be run 

 of injuring the reputation and value of home-grown barley on account 

 of broken and chipped grains. 



2. A new machine will break the grain more tlian a machine 

 which has been used for a time and in \\hich the roughness of the 

 l)eaters has been worn off. On the other hand, when a machine has 



