PREPARATION OF LAND FOR BARLEY 205 



out near the surface enable it to use commercial fertilizers 

 quickly and to good advantage. The proper fertilizers to 

 use depend largely on the soil to which they are applied. 

 Phosphorus and potash are usually more necessary than 

 nitrogen for the highest yields of barley. . 



IM i M Ml 

 H M It M 



M ( ( • I M 



Figure 79. — Barley grains; upper row, six-rowed hulled; center row, two-rowed 

 hulled; lower row, hull-less or naked. 



249. Preparation of the Land. A well-prepared seed bed 

 is essential to the best growth of this crop. Fall plowing is 

 desirable wherever possible, for fall-plowed land usually 

 holds moisture better the following spring and can be put 

 in shape for seeding at an earlier date than spring plowing. 

 Sowing barley on land that has been disked and not plowed 

 is fairly successful when a cultivated crop was grown on the 

 land the previous year, but this method is not so generally 

 followed as with oats, while the results which are obtained 

 are not usually as good. For winter barley, plowing should 



