INSECTS AND DISEASES 213 



can usually be purchased at reasonable prices, and can be 

 used with profit where they are readil}^ obtainable. 



268. Barley for Hay and Pasture. Barley is not often 

 used as a hay crop except in the West and South. The 

 bearded kinds should be cut while the beards are still soft, 

 or they will cause injury to the mouths of animals to which 

 the hay is fed. The beardless varieties are to be preferred 

 for hay production in the region to which they are adapted. 

 Beardless barley is now ])eing grown to some extent in the 

 South as a hay and pasture crop, though conditions are not 

 favorable for the production of grain. Barley hay is high 

 in feeding value, and, if cut at the right stage, is rehshed by 

 stock. Winter barley makes excellent pasture for stock of 

 all kinds both in the fall and the spring within the region to 

 which it is adapted. Spring barley also produces nutritious 

 early spring pasture, and is sometimes sown for this purpose, 

 particularly for hogs and sheep. 



INSECTS AND DISEASES 



269. Insect Enemies. The insects which are most 

 troublesome in growing barley are the chinch bug, Hessian 

 fly, and spring grain aphis. See Sections 196 and 228. 



The most destructive insects in stored barley are the 

 grain weevil and the Angoumois grain moth. The most 

 effective way of preventing damage from weevils and moths 

 is to store the grain in tight bins and fumigate occasionally 

 with carbon bisulphide. 



270. Diseases. The most injurious diseases of barley 

 are the rusts and smuts. The two kinds of rust and two 

 kinds of smut on barley are quite similar to the correspond- 

 ing diseases on wheat. Covered smut may be destroyed 

 by treating with the formaldehyde solution and loose smut 

 by the hot water treatment (Section 195). These diseases 

 are frequently quite destructive, and the annual production 

 of barley is materially decreased by loss from smut. 



