MILLING AND MALTINO 



HORDEUM 

 VULOARE 



Cultivation 

 Bombay. 



Milling. 



Mixed with 

 Wheat. 



. Barley is not extensively grown in Bombay. In 1905-6 

 t!i.- total area was only 23,103 acres. In that year Ahmedabad grew 

 II,; 10 acres; Kaira 3,448; Satara 4,807; Sholapur 1,284; and Panch 

 Mahals Ki.i. It is generally grown alone, occasionally with a sprinkling 

 (if rape or mustard. In parts of Gujarat wheat and barley are grown 

 mixed. As in other provinces, it is a light-soil crop, the sandy loams of 

 K.ura and Ahmedabad district being particularly suitable. Mollison 

 remarks that 1,500 to 1,800 Ib. of grain per acre and about a ton of straw 

 art; considered a full average yield. [Cf. Mollison, Handbook Ind. Agri., 

 1901, 44-9.] 



PMadm. Barley is a very unimportant crop. For the year 1905-6 Madras, 

 the total area in the Presidency amounted to only 3,280 acres, all in the 

 Nil^iris. In Mysore the total in 1905-6 was 1,338 acres. 

 Milling or Preparing. The process of cleaning barley for food 

 purposes is generally carried out by pounding in wooden mortars and Food, 

 winnowing, or by beating with a flat board. The grain is then ground 

 into coarse meal from which alone, or mixed with the meal of wheat or 

 gram, chapattis are made and baked ; or a gruel or pasty mass is made, 

 to which salt is added and the preparation eaten with garlic, onions or 

 chillies. In either of these forms it is a staple article of food among the 

 poorer classes. The grain, thus roughly cleaned and ground, is richer in 

 albuminoids than the more carefully prepared culinary barley of Europe ; 

 but at the same time it is more difficult to digest, and is thus partly un- 

 suited for the dietary of dyspeptics or invalids. 



Pin various parts of India barley is now largely employed in the pre- Beer, 

 paration of beer or spirituous liquor, and the use of barley in Europe for 

 malting and brewing is well known (see Malt Liquors, p. 759 ; Vinegar, 

 p. 1 109). Mollison gives an account of the qualities which give barley a 

 special value for these purposes. It is also largely used as a horse and Fodder, 

 cattle fodder. In some parts of India the crop is cut two or three times 

 when quite young, without marked injury to the final yield of grain. 

 The straw even of ripe barley makes a fairly good fodder when cut 

 up as bhusa, but is inferior to that of wheat. The grain is a good feed 



tboth for horses and cattle, either given alone or mixed with gram. 

 Properties and Uses. The chemical composition of ordinary husked chemistry. 

 Indian barley is given by Church as follows : in 100 parts : water 12*5, 

 albuminoids 11-5, starch 70*0, fat 1-3, fibre 2-6, ash 2-1. The nutrient 

 ratio is here 1 : 6'3 and the nutrient value 84*5. In medicine, barley is Medicine, 

 demulcent and easily digested, and is much used in the dietary of the 

 sick. Malt extract has become extremely popular both as a nutritive Malt Extract, 

 and demulcent, and as a means for rendering other medicines palatable. 



Trade. Official trade statistics show the following as the EXPORTS Trade. 



from British India in the six years ending March 31, 1907 : 1901-2, 54,648 

 cwt., valued at Rs. 1,80,180 ; 1902-3, 63,872 cwt., valued at Rs. 2,27,937 ; 

 1903-4, 113,120 cwt., valued at Rs. 3,56,421 ; 1904-5, 376,548 cwt., valued 

 at Rs. 12,68,154; 1905-6, 92,810 cwt., valued at Rs. 3,12,548 ; and 1906-7, 

 406,067 cwt., valued at Rs. 12,51,753. There was thus a steady increase 

 till 1904-5, but a sudden decrease in 1905-6. In 1904-5 (the record year) 

 Bombay exported the largest share, viz. 231,037 cwt. (though in the previous 

 year it exported only 25,883 cwt.) ; Sind 86,070 cwt. ; and Bengal 59,307. 

 The relative shares of the exporting centres are, however, subject to 

 great variation. During the same period the IMPORTS were : 1900-1, 



643 



