144 AMERICAN AGRICULTURE. 



More caution is requisite in cutting it at the proper time, 

 than is necessary to observe with any other grain ; for if cut 

 too late, its extreme liability to shell will cause much waste, 

 and it will shrivel, if cut before it is fully matured. It may 

 be stacked like wheat. 



The uses of Barley are various and important. In Eu- 

 rope, it forms no inconsiderable part of the food of the in- 

 habitants. The grain yields from 80 to 86 per cent, of flour, 

 which, however, contains but six per cent, of gluten; seven 

 per cent, being saccharine matter, and 79, mucilage or starch. 

 It is inferior in nutriment to wheat and rye, but superior to 

 oats. In this country, it is principally used for malting and 

 brewing, and in some cases for distilling. When ground, it 

 is more generally appropriated to fattening swine, tHbugh 

 sometimes used for other stock. 



THE OAT (A vena sativa, Fig. 34). 



This grain is cultivated through- 

 out a larger range of latitude,, and 

 on a greater variety of soil than 

 any cereal. It will grow on rich 

 or poor, and on dry or moist soils ; 

 on the heaviest clays and the light- 

 est sands ; and it will generally pay 

 as well on rich lands as any other 

 crop. The average yield on good 

 soils, is from 30 to 40 bushels per 

 acre, and on the richest, when 

 well cultivated, it has exceeded 

 120 bushels. It is exposed to 

 fewer injuries than other grain, 

 being seldom affected by rust, 

 smut or insects. The wire worm 

 is most destructive to it, espe- 

 cially when sown on fresh sod. 

 The most effectual mod f e of extir- 

 pating these and other troublesome 

 insects, is to turn the sod over, late 

 in the fall, just before the severe 

 winter frosts. They thus become 

 FlQ 34> chilled, and incapable of seeking 



a safe retreat from their fatal effects. If not plowed at that 

 time, it should 1 be done immediately before sowing in spring, 

 when by turning them into the bottom of the furrow, they 



