90* 



BARLEY. 



BARLEY. 



919 



winters of our climate, may also with success be sown in spring, as is 

 the case with the Scotch bere or bigg. There seem, in fact, to be only 

 two very distinct species of barley generally cultivated : one which 

 produces three perfect flowers, and as many seeds united at the base, 

 at each joint of the rachis, or middle of the ear, alternately on each 

 side (Jig. 1), and another, in which the middle floret is perfect, and 

 the two others barren, forming a flat ear, with only one row of grains 

 on each side, as our common spring barley (fy. 2). The first species 



Kg. 1. 



a Winter barley. 



b The same, with part of the seed pulled off the rachis. 

 c A side view of the last, to show the shape of the rachis. 

 rf The three perfect grains adhering together by the base, as palled off the 

 rachis. 



has sometimes the middle floret small or abortive, and consequently 

 only four rows of grains, giving the ear a square appearance ; but 

 that this ia only an occasional deviation is proved by its returning 

 to the perfect ear with six rows, in rich soils, and under proper 

 cultivation. 



In some varieties of both kinds the seeds stand more apart from 

 each other, and at a greater angle with the rachis ; the ear is also 

 shorter, giving it the appearance of a bat or fan, whence it has been 

 called Battledore Barley ; it is also known by the name of Sprat 

 Barley. In others the corolla separates from the seed when ripe, and 

 the awns fall off : these are the naked barleys. Each of these has been 

 in repute at different times, and is worthy of the attention and careful 

 cultivation of the practical and experimental agriculturist. 



Winter barley is mostly sown in those countries where the winters 

 are mild, and the springs dry, as in the south of France, Italy, and 

 Spain, or in those where the snow lies deep all the winter, and where 

 the sun in powerful immediately after the melting of the snow in 

 spring, as is the case in parta of Russia, Poland, and some parts of 

 North America. In most climates, where the winter consists of alter- 

 nate frosts and thaws, and the early part of spring is usually wet, as is 

 the cage in England, Scotland, and Ireland, the young barley is too apt 

 to suffer from these vicissitudes, and the spring-sown barley gives the 

 more certain prospect of a good crop : but the grain of the latter is 

 seldom so heavy as that which has stood the winter, and, being har- 

 vested later, it interferes with the wheat harvest, which is an incon- 

 venience. 



The winter-sown barley is generally of the six-rowed sort, of which 

 the bere or bigg is an inferior variety, though, being hardy, and of 

 rapid growth, it is well suited to exposed situations and inferior soils. 

 The Siberian barley, a variety of which, with naked seeds, has been 

 highly extolled by foreign agricultural writers, especially by Thaer, 

 under the name of Hwdeum cvleete, seems to be a superior sort in rich 



soils, not only for its heavy and nutritious grain, in which particulars 

 it is said to approach to the quality of rye, but also for its succulent 



Fig. 2. 



a T An ear of common, or Norfolk, spring barley. 



b The same, -with the grain partly pulled off. 



<l The single grain, with the remnant of the two abortive flowers. 



stems and leaves, which make it by far the best sort to sow for the 

 purpose of green food for cattle and sheep, and, if fed off early, the 

 roots will, in a rich soil, shoot out an abundance of fresh stems, and 

 produce a good crop of grain at harvest. 



The barley most commonly cultivated in England is that which has 

 only two rows. It is almost universally sown in spring. The varieties 

 produced by difference of soil and cultivation, as well as by seed 

 occasionally brought from other countries, are innumerable ; they 

 have been divided by most agricultural writers into early and late 

 sorts ; but this is a distinction which is not very accurate. It is well 

 known that hot gravelly soils bring any grain to perfection in less time 

 than the stronger and colder soils, and that the produce acquires from 

 the soil in which it grew a disposition to ripen earlier or later. This 

 property it retains for a few seasons, by some modification of its 

 vegetating power, to which, for want of a better name, that of habit 

 may be given, being analogous to the alterations produced on living 

 animals by habit. Thus seed sown repeatedly in a light dry soil 

 becomes early ripe, and that sown pn the heavy moist land late ripe,- 

 although originally the same. The early grain is always less heavy 

 than the late; and from these circumstances the experienced culti- 

 vator of barley chooses his seed from such land as may modify the 

 habit produced by his own, giving him a crop with as heavy a grain as 

 his soil can produce, and within a convenient period. 



The common, or Norfolk, spring barley, so called because it is the 

 principal sort cultivated in that county, has a moderate-sized ear, con- 

 taining from ten to fifteen seeds on each side, on an average (Jig. 2). 

 The straw is not very long, and makes good fodder for cattle in winter. 

 Some prefer the long-eared, which contains from twelve to twenty 

 seeds in a row, but it has a weaker straw, and is subject to be beaten 

 down by rains from the weight of the ear. Particular varieties have 

 been in great repute at different times, when first introduced, and then 

 seem to have degenerated and lost their superiority. Of this kind is 

 the Moldavian barley. This barley was much sought after some years 

 ago ; and of late years the Chevalier barley (Jig. 3), so called from the 

 gentleman who first brought it into notice. It is said, that having 

 observed an ear of barley in his field greatly superior to the rest, he 

 carefully saved the seed, and cultivated it in his garden, till he had a 

 sufficient quantity to sow it in a field. It has since been extremely 

 multiplied and diffused through the country. Some eminent maltsters 

 and brewers have declared, that it contains more saccharine matter 

 than any other sort; and the trials hitherto made have convinced 

 many agriculturists that it is not only heavier in the grain, but also 



