11 



IUKLET. 



BAW.KY 



11 



MOT. rrahtcti ve. In 1 832 Mr. Coin, of Norfolk, who WM always fore- 

 : in !1 agricultural px|<rriiiirntn and improvements, sowed a con- 



W. I. 



Chcvnlirr lltrley. 



In |K'rtioii of land with thin barley, and the result ia said to 

 hare been perfectly satisfactory. In tlic year 1833 the writer of this 

 article sowed two acres of Chevalier barley in the same field with 

 some of the beat of the common barley. The soil was poor light sand, 

 but iii p""l order, and very clean. The produce of the whole was 

 nearly the same, four <ruarters l>er acre; but the Chevalier barley 

 weighed 67 Ibs. jier bushel, while the common weighed only 52. This 

 gives the farmer an advantage of nearly ten per cent. The sample wag 

 very fine, and the whole that he could spare was eagerly purchased by 

 hi* neighbours for need at his own price. It is long in the ear and 

 very plump, and the plants tiller* HO much, that half a bushel may be 

 saved per acre in the seed. This is probably owing to its grains being 

 all perfect, and vegetating rapidly. The straw, like that of the other 

 long-cared barleys, appears weak in proportion to the ear; it is said 

 also to be harder, and not so palatable to cattle. These are circum 

 stances which experience alone can ascertain. That hitherto it has a 

 decided mi|-ri"rity over the common sorts, no one who has tried it 

 fairly in well-prepared land seems to deny ; but unless great care be 

 taken in cultivating picked parcels for seed, selecting the finest ears 

 ami ]>liini|*vt grain, it will probably ahare the fate of ito predecessors 

 ^Hpinuti^ and low its reputation. This contingency, though antici- 

 pated many years ago, baa not, however, yet (1859) befallen the 

 Chevalier barley : it is still held to be among the best varieties we 

 possess. There are many additional sorts of two-rowed barley deserving 

 the attention of growers, under the different circumstances of soil 

 and climate in which thin grain is cultivated, as the Uunlnp. the 

 Ann.it, the so-called Italian ; and other varieties might be named. 

 Tli-- Annat Inrlry and Italian arv good, stifT-strawed sorts, standing 

 well where other kind* would 1 . laid ; the Ihmlop is an early kind. 

 A black, two-rowed Wley, later than the kind- just named, but, in 

 the fafrnff in which we have known it tried, remarkable for its good 

 malting quality, may also be named. There is also a black, six-rowed 

 barley, not however of greater merit for late cold climates than the 

 hardy ber* commonly grown in Ireland and the highland* of Scotland. 

 The Sprat, or Battledore, Barley (//. 4), also called Putney Barley, 

 from having been once extensively cultivated near that place, is in 

 much eUuui in Germany. It is the llordcm* Ztoerito* ; also called 

 lirrmn* net, or rirr Inrlry, not from any resemblance it bears to rice, 



A plaat U laid to lillar when It produce* wvenl Menu from the crown of 

 the root (fit. J, ) at Ike rarficc of the roil. 



but l>cait>. when deprived of ita akin and made into pot W 

 swells by boiling, and makes a good nhstitutu for rice in broths and 



Ft*. 4. 



Sprat (or Battledore) Barley. 



puddings. It is not much cultivated in England, at present, but it is 

 hardy and productive, and grows well in stronger soils, especially the 

 marly, and is well worth the attention of experimental agricult 

 It certainly was once in good repute in this country. and may suit 

 particular soils and situations. 



Might not the cultivation of the various kinds of grain purposely for 

 seed be more generally practised, and form a distinct branch of agri- 

 culture f And would not this be well adapted to small <x 

 cottagers, who may have had allotments of laud given or let tn 

 to enable them to live by their own labour and industry, without 

 parochial aid f Thus the good qualities of any grain inij/ht ' 

 pctuated, new varieties might be produced, and the defect *!<>! 

 by cultivation, as is the case with horticultural plant*. 



All kinds of barley require nearly the same soil, and whrtlnv they 

 are sown before winter or in spring, the ground must be well pre- 

 pared, and the soil pulverised by repeated plotighings and hamming, 

 or by the operation of those Instruments which have N-cn inven 

 this especial purpose : in order that the fibres of the roots, which an- 

 very minute and delicate, may penetrate the soil easily in search of 

 nourishment. 



The cultivation of all the varieties is nearly the same, and is best 

 understood in the counties of Essex, Norfolk. 'and SullMk. in whi.-h i 

 great quantity of excellent, barley is produced and limited for the 

 London market. In the light soils, barley is invariably sown aft. r 

 turnips, which have been fed off the land by .-! 

 feed the cattle in winter in the yards or stalls, which, l.y mean 

 abundance of litter, make a vast supply of manure ready i 

 turnip crop. When the land has been properly prepared 

 [Ti HMI-sl. and well manured, and the turnip* ha rfulU 



hoed, so that no weeds of any kind i. main, it is then in the fim -i 

 for barley as soon as the turnips are off. Turnips require a 

 pulverised soil, and so docs barley. If the noil i vciv dry anil lighl, 

 the sheep folded upon it consolidate the surface l.y i: 

 enrich it by their urine and dung. As H. 



and the hurdles removed, the lon<! 



furrow, and \\rn-, the sheep and the ploughs are often wen in the same 

 tield Micceediitg each other, that no time may be lost in turning i 

 covering the duiiK. which is v . and would soon i 



iU qualities by the action ,,f the sun and winds. This in Biiflicient 

 pnpmtka for the seed, which may now IMJ sown or drilled v. 

 delay. 



In heavier soils, which have become tenacious by i 

 or on which the slice], I. Ided in wet weather, U 



not be in a sufficiently divided state to receive the seed w i 

 vantage. In that case it must be worked and stirred till a 

 i- produced: this is a great loss and hindrance, by increasing the 



