CULTURE OF BARLEY 333 



desirable than oats with field peas on account of the weakness 

 of the straw. 



457. Rate of Seeding. — Wide variations in rate of seeding, 

 ranging from one and one-half to four bushels of seed per acre, 

 have given the best results in different trials. Two bushels is 

 the usual quantity of seed sown per acre. It seems probable, 

 however, that seeding at the rate of ten pecks per acre will give 

 the best average results. The number of seeds per bushel is 

 usually rather less than in wheat and oats. Barley tillers less 

 strongly than oats, and also less strongly at least than winter 

 wheat. Seeding thinly enough to induce excessive tillering may 

 cause irregular and later ripening. 



458. Time of Sowing. — The Central Experimental Farm, at 

 which the conditions correspond to those of Ontario and Quebec, 

 sowed two varieties of barley at six weekly periods for ten years, 

 beginning each year as early as the land was fit to receive the 

 seed. Seeding either the first or second week gave the best re- 

 sults. The decrease in yield after the second week was marked. 

 In these provinces seeding usually should be finished before May 

 first The Ontario Agricultural College obtained best results 

 every year during four years between April 22 and 25. Early 

 sowing was not found so important for the Maritime Provinces, 

 Manitoba, the Northwest Territories or British Columbia. The 

 seeding should be finished in these provinces generally between 

 May 15 and 25.^ 



The barley plant when young is rather more susceptible to 

 cold than wheat and possibly than oats. A light frost just after 

 it is up is likely to injure it. In the spring wheat regions barley 

 is generally sown after wheat is sown, and before oats are sown, 

 although in some sections barley is sown after oats. It is prob- 

 able that oats would suffer more than barley from a few days' 

 delay in seeding. At the Minnesota Station the difference in 



I Can. Cent. Expt, Farms Bui. 21; Can. Expt. Farms Rpt 1899; Ont. Agr. CoL 

 and Expt. Farms Rpt. 1898. 



