122 THE SMALL GRAINS 



always lower in nitrogen than other six-row varieties 

 wherever grown. 



"There are two coloring materials in barley: One, anthocyanin 

 is red in its acid and blue in its alkaline condition ; the other, a 

 melanin-like compound, is black. The pigments may occur in the 

 hulls, the pericarp, the aleurone layer, and occasionally in the 

 starch endosperm. The resulting colors of kernel are quite compli- 

 cated. White denotes the absence of all pigment. A heavy deposit 

 of the melanin-like compound in the hulls results in black ; a light 

 deposit results in brown. Anthocyanin in the hulls results in a light 

 violet red. In hulless forms the melanin-like compound in the peri- 

 carp results in a black kernel ; anthocyanin produces a violet one ; 

 anthocyanin in the aleurone cells alone produces a blue kernel." 

 (Harlan, 1914, pp. 35-36.) 



114. Origin of barley. Barley is one of the most 

 ancient cultivated plants. As in the other cereals, the 

 most common and most diversified groups appear to 

 have the oldest history. Though much is yet to be 

 learned of the details of development of different groups, 

 Hordeum spontaneum, C. Koch., is generally conceded 

 to be the oldest barley ancestor now known to be grow- 

 ing wild. It occurs in all the region between the Red 

 Sea and Caucasus mountains and Caspian Sea. It 

 most nearly resembles the two-row barley, but differs 

 from the latter in having an articulate axis, a longer 

 and stiffer beard, and more hairiness, the characters 

 usually emphasized in a cereal ancestor. Though the 

 two-row barley is most nearly related to the present 

 wild form, six-row barley, it seems, is the species most 

 anciently cultivated. The latter has been found in the 

 earliest Egyptian monuments and in the remains of 

 the Lake Dwellers. It is said that this barley was 

 the only one existing in India at the close of the 



