IMPROVEMENT OF BARLEY 215 



and sowing only the heaviest and plumpest kernels will 

 eventually improve the yield and quality of the crop. The 

 selection of good heads from the field, using the seeds from 

 them to sow a seed plat from which all plants not of uniform 

 type are removed before harvest, and increasing this seed 

 until enough is produced to plant the main crop, will mate- 

 rially improve the quahty, yield, and uniformity of the crop. 

 New varieties may be produced by the selection of specially 

 good individual plants and by hybridization. 



273. Judging. The excellence of a sample of barley is 

 determined largely on its uniformity, its freedom from broken 

 grains, weed seeds and other foreign matter, its condition, 

 and its weight per bushel. Germination is also a factor 

 which is usually considered. 



The following score card is used by the College of Agri- 

 culture of the University of Nebraska: 



SCORE CARD FOR BARLEY 



Uniformity 



Color 20 points 



Texture 20 points 



Size 10 points 



Quality- 

 Weight per bushel 15 points 



Injury in threshing 10 points 



Sprouted, bin-burnt, decayed, etc 15 points 



Foreign matter 10 points 



Total 100 points 



LABORATORY AND FIELD EXERCISES 



1. Have each student make a study of the barley plant and write a 

 description of it. If several widely different varieties can be used for 

 this work, and their differences and similarities l^rought out, the value 

 of the study will be greatly increased. 



2. Make studies of samples of thrashed barley to determine whether 

 they are two-rowed or six-rowed. The six-rowed samples will contain 

 approximately twice as many compressed or twisted grains as fully 

 developed ones, due to the manner in which the lateral grains in the 

 spikelets press against one another (See Figure 71). Pure samples of two- 



