HORDEUM 149 



Barley stands between oats and wheat in its water 

 requirement. 



Uses of Barley. — Barley has a great variety of uses. Its 

 greatest use is in the preparation of malt. The two-rowed 

 barleys have larger and softer grains than six-rowed barleys 

 and therefore are preferred for malting purposes. Smaller 

 quantities are ground into flour from which bread is made. 

 "Pearl barley" (grains with the lemma and palet removed) is 

 used for soups. Barley enters into a few cereal breakfast 

 foods. It is a valuable stock feed, especially for hogs, sheep, 

 dairy cows, and poultry. The six-rowed barleys are regarded 

 as valuable sorts for feeding. The hooded varieties, chiefly, 

 are grown as hay. Barley is sometimes grown as a pasture 

 crop, as a nurse crop and as a smother crop. A pasture crop is 

 used for grazing. A nurse crop is a temporary one often 

 planted with a forage plant such as clover or alfalfa in order 

 to secure a greater return from the land the first year, also to 

 inhibit weed growth, and to prevent the blowing or washing 

 of the soil. A smother crop is used to prevent the growth of 

 weeds. The straw of barley is fed, and also serves as a bed- 

 ding for stock. Malt sprouts and "brewers' grains" are now 

 and then utihzed as stock food. 



The Brewing Process.— Brewing operations vary con- 

 siderably in the different countries, and with the character of 

 the product. The brewing materials employed are malt, 

 hops and water. The malt is made from germinating barley, 

 and to this are sometimes added unmalted cereals such as 

 corn, wheat and rice. 



Malting. — In this process, barley is prepared for brewing 

 purposes. The barley grains are steeped for about forty- 

 eight hours in water, and then spread out on the malting 

 floor. The temperature of the air in the malting room is 

 between 50 and 6o°F. > Germination is not allowed to pro- 



