212 FIELD CROPS! 



as it produces pork of very high quaUty. It is also useful 

 for fattening sheep and for feeding to dairy cows and poultry. 

 It is not often fed to horses in this section, ]>ut in the Pacific 

 states it is a standard feed for this class of animals. The 

 feeding value of barley is about the same as that of corn. 



266. Use as Human Food. This grain is normally little 

 used as human food in the United States, though in some 

 portions of Europe it is commonly made into bread. In 

 America, it is principally used as pearl barley for soups and 

 as a cereal breakfast food. Pearl barley is the kernel from 

 which the hull has been removed. During war conditions 

 and the need for conserving wheat, barley flour has been 

 extensively used as a wheat substitute. 



267. Use of the By-Products. Barley straw, the by- 

 product of grain production, is generally fed to animals or 

 used as bedding. As most of the barley which is produced 

 in this country is bearded and these beards cannot be sepa- 

 rated from the straw, barley straw is less palatable than that 

 of oats or beardless wheat. It is also less nutritious than 

 wheat straw. As bedding, it is said to be slightly better 

 as an absorbent of liquids than oat straw. It is also a little 

 higher in fertilizing value than oat straw. 



The by-products of the malting industry, malt sprouts 

 and brewers' grains, are largely used for stock feed in the 

 vicinity of malt houses, either in the wet or the dried state. 

 The dried sprouts and brewers' grains are more pleasant 

 to handle, and are generally l^etter for feeding. Malt sprouts 

 are the sprouts produced during germination, which are 

 l)roken off before the soluble starch compounds are extracted. 

 They are high in protein and are a very good feed, par- 

 ticularly for dairy cows. Brewers' grains are the barley or 

 other grains from which the soluble starch has been ex- 

 tracted. Since they contain much of the protein of the 

 original grain, they are high in feeding value. Like malt 

 sprouts, they are largely fed to dairy cows. Both these feeds 



