BARLEY AND RYE. 181 



production. The imported barley comes almost en- 

 tirely from Canada. 



. Structure. — Barley agrees with oats in having 

 the palets adherent. The hull is somewhat different 

 in texture from that of the oat and has a long barbed 

 awn or beard, which makes barley a very disagreeable 

 crop to handle. The hull is very closely attached to 

 the kernel and is not so easily removed as in case of 

 oats. The hull may form from 12 to 18 per cent of 

 the berry, 15 per cent being about an. average. 



Use. — Barley is very little used in this country as 

 an article of human food, and then only as pearl bar- 

 ley. It is largely used as a stock food and for malt- 

 ing purposes. Except on the Pacific Slope its use as 

 a stock food is not general as compared with corn 

 or oats. In Europe it takes the place largely which 

 Indian corn does in America. It is also used for malt- 

 ing purposes, and on the continent, especially in the 

 southern part, is used as a human food. 



Composition. — Barley, differs from Indian corn 

 principally in having a less per cent of fat. Oats 

 contain about three times as much crude fibre as 

 barley, yet it is essential to grind barley before feed- 

 ing it, while it is not necessary to grind oats. Other- 

 wise, as compared to oats, it has less fat and more 

 starch, the starch taking the place of the extra crude 

 fibre in the oats. 



The highest priced barley is used for malting pur- 

 poses. For this use barley should be mealy instead 

 of glossy, light in color, and have a low percentage 

 of albuminoids. As sold in the market, however, the 

 grade depends upon its plumpness, its weight and its 

 color, the latter two being the most important. The 



