206 FIELD CROPS 



be done some weeks previous to seeding, in order to allow 

 the ground to become thoroughly settled. Where winter 

 barley follows cowpeas cut for hay, a good seed bed can be 

 prepared by disking and harrowing without plowing. The 

 essential thing is to have the surface soil fine and mellow 

 and the subsoil firm. 



250. Preparing the Seed for Sowing. Thorough grad- 

 ing and cleaning of the seed is particularly essential to success 

 in barley culture. These precautions are more necessary 

 with the six-rowed varieties than with the two-rowed, since 

 the lateral grains of the six-rowed are often much smaller than 

 the median ones and are not fully developed. Only the 

 largest and plumpest seed should be sown, to obtain quick 

 germination, strong growth, and an even stand. Evenness 

 in ripening is necessary to produce market barley of uniform 

 quality, and careful grading is a means toward this end. 

 Freedom from weed seeds is also very desirable, for weeds in 

 the crop retard its growth, make it more difficult to cure 

 properly, and injure its market value. 



The formaldehyde treatment recommended for the cov- 

 ered smut (bunt) of wheat' and for oat smut (Section 196, c) 

 is effective in controlling covered smut of barley. Loose 

 smut of barley is not killed by formaldehyde- but can be kept 

 in check by the hot water treatment decribed for the loose 

 smut of wheat (Section 196, c). 



251. Sowing the Seed. Barley is usually sown with the 

 grain drill at the rate of from 6 to 8 pecks to the acre. In 

 the drier sections, the best quantity to sow may be as low as 

 4 pecks. Broadcast seeding usually produces much lower 

 yields than drilling, and is not to be recommended where it is 

 possible to use the drill. Hull-less barley is sown at the rate 

 of from 4 to 6 pecks to the acre. The usual date of seeding 

 is slightly later than for oats, varying from the latter part of 

 March and the first week of April in Kansas, through the 

 second and third weeks of April in Iowa, Nebraska, and 



