GRAIN CROPS 



57 



The United States, Austria-Hungary, Great Britain, Ger- 

 many, Canada and Spain are other countries that produce 

 barley in large quantities. 



Barley is used for malting, that is to make beer, and for 

 feed. It yields more pounds per acre than oats, but is not 

 so popular as a feed as oats, and the crop is a Httle more 

 unpleasant to handle than the other grain crops on account 

 of the beards or awns. Barley, however, is a good feed for 

 all classes of stock, and is used quite generally as a sub- 

 stitute for corn where corn is not easily grown. It is an 

 early maturing, heavy growing crop, and on that account 

 is one of the best spring-sown grain crops for cleaning the 



Figure 20. — Some good grain stacks. 



land of weeds. There are several different types of barley: 

 the six-row and two-row bearded, the hull-less and beardless. 

 By far the most important type is the six-row bearded. 



Culture. — Barley does best on rather rich soil. On 

 light soils the straw is likely to be so short that it is difficult 

 to cut with a binder. Barley is the most tender to frost 

 of any of the grain crops. Frost in the spring will quite 

 seriously injure barley, while wheat, rye and oats are un- 

 harmed. On this account the crop is usually sown from 

 two to four weeks later in the spring than other grain crops. 

 From seven to eight pecks of seed are sown per acre. 



