XXI. 



BARLEY. 



I. STRUCTURE AND COMPOSITION. 



436. Relationships. — Barley {Hordeinn sativum Jensen) 

 belongs to the same tribe as wheat and rye, and differs from 

 both in that the spikelets are one-flowered, and in having more 

 than one spikelet at the joint of each rachis. 



437. The Plant. — Aside from the spike, the barley plant has 

 much the same appearance and habit of growth as wheat. 

 Usually the culms are not so tall, and are perhaps more varia- 

 ble on account of environment. Wisconsin Station found with 

 several varieties during five years an average of one pound of 

 straw for each pound of grain, there being considerably less 

 straw than is usually obtained with wheat or oats.^ In a com- 

 parative trial the proportion of top to root in weight of dry 

 matter was 3.3 to one in barley and 2.2 to one in oats.^ The 

 indication is that it is more shallow rooted than wheat, maize 

 or oats. Although the roots grow rapidly, they are compara- 

 tively feeble and short lived. 



438. The Inflorescence. — The spikelets are one-flowered, ses- 

 sile, thus forming a spike. The outer glumes are almost awl- 

 shaped, three-eighths inch long with flexible beard one-half to 

 three-fourths inch long. Flowering glume, which with palea is 

 adherent to fruit, is prolonged into a stiff beard six to eight 

 inches long with strongly barbed edges, making barley a disa- 

 greeable crop to handle, although the objection to the beards 



» Wis Rpt. 1903, p. 268. 

 2 Wis Rpt. 1S92, p. 119. 



