204 



FARMERS' REGISTER 



[No.. 4 



From the Genesee Farmer. 

 BABLEY. 



The increasing attention which is paiil to the 

 culture of barley — theprofils oC the crop — its value 

 as a preparative for wheat — and the favor which 

 it finds as a substilute for wheat in nial<ino: bread, 

 are entitling it to a high rank among the grains cul- 

 tivated in this country. 



According to Loudon, there are six species and 

 sub-species of this grain in cultivation, besides va- 

 rieties. 



Hordeum vulgare, or spring barley, is distin- 

 guished by its double row of beards or awns, 

 standing erect, and its thin husk, which renders it 

 favorable for malting. This is the sort commonly 

 grown in the southern and eastern districts of both 

 England and Scotland. 



Hordeum ccBleste, or Siberian barlej', is a varie- 

 ty of early or spring barley, much grown in the 

 north of Europe, having broader leaves, and reck- 

 oned more productive than the other. 



flordeiim hexastichon, winter barley, or as it is 

 called in Scotland, square barley, is a variety 

 known by having six rows of grains, large and 

 thick-skinned, and for that reason not considered 

 as favorable for malting. 



Barley higg, is a variety of winter barley, 

 known by its always having six rows of grains, 

 by the grains being small and thick-skinned, and 

 being earlier than the preceding or parent variety. 

 It is hardy, and chiefly grown in Scotland. 



Hordeum distichon, common, or lono-eared 

 barley, is known by its long spike or ear flatted 

 transversely, and its long awns. It yields well, 

 though some object to it, because the ears being 

 long and heavy, they think it apt to lodire. 



Hordeum distichon nudum, or naked barley, is 

 known by the awns falling easily, and when ripe, 

 almost of themselves from the chaff, when the ear 

 somewhat resembles v/heat. and by some is; called 

 wheat barley. It is spoken highly of in the British 

 Husbandry, as beino- hardy in growth, strong in 

 the stem, tillering with great vigor, and producing 

 abundant crops of fine grain. By some, this va- 

 riety is considered the same as spelt wheat, which 

 indeed it strongly resembles. It is six rowed. 



Hordeum zeocriton, sprat or battledore barley, 

 is known by its low stature, coarse straw, shoVt 

 broad ears, and long awns. It is but little culti- 

 vated. 



New varieties of barley are produced in the 

 same manner as in wheat, by crossinff, and some 

 of the most celebrated kinds, such as^the cheva- 

 lier, annat, &c. have originated in this way. 



In this country but two varieties are sown, and 

 these are familiarlv distinguished as the two and 

 the six-rowed. They are always sown in the 

 spring ; no kind in the United States beins: able to 

 endure the severity of our winters, or at least we 

 know of no variety which has been attempted 

 here as a winter or fiill-sovvn srain. The compa- 

 rative value of the two varieties does not seem to 

 have been flilly decided by our farmers, some pre- 

 ferring one kind and some the other. That the 

 two-rowed will make the most flour from a given 

 number of pounds— that its thin skin renders it 

 more suitable for malting — and thai it is rather less 

 liable to be afiected by smut than the six-rowed, 

 seems to be generally conceded ; but its produc- 



tiveness is much disputed, and it would seem with 

 some reason, as the greater length of the ear in 

 the two-rowed, woulci hardly compensate for the 

 greater number of rows in the other variety. So 

 far as we are able to judge, however, fi-om the 

 opinions of experienced farmers, the preference, 

 for the reasons assigned, is becoming more decid- 

 ed in favor of the two-rowed. 



Barley of every variety requires a rich, friable 

 and mellow soil, which retains a moderate quanti- 

 ty of moisture, but without approaching to that 

 which may be denominated wet ; as for instance, 

 land which contains from 50 to 65 per cent, of 

 sand, and tlie remainder chiefly clay, though in 

 situations where the climate is usually moist du- 

 ring the summer, it may be grown where sand is 

 in the soil in a larger proportion. It succeeds best 

 in what farmers term a rich deep loam, and with 

 too much sand, or too much clay, will not produce 

 good crops. With the single exception, that it 

 will succeed with less lime than wheat, soils that 

 will produce good wheat, will also grow barley to 

 advantage. 



It is probable that more barley is grown in the 

 state of New York than in all the rest of the 

 United States, and the section in which it is pro- 

 duced in the greatest abundance and perfection, is 

 the northern slope of western New York. The 

 ranges of towns which mark the geological sepa- 

 ration of the argillaceous and limestone districts, 

 have hitherto yielded the greatest quantities oi' 

 barley, and in them the culture is still rapidly ex- 

 tending. On this slope, it is found that soils on 

 which winter wheat without extra care in cultiva- 

 tion, is very liable to freeze out in the spring, will 

 produce heavy crops of barley, and hence clover 

 and barley on many farms have taken the place of 

 clover and wheat, affording about the same profit 

 in the crop and at a less expense of labor. This 

 is particularly the case in the country reaching 

 from the Oneida to the Canandaigua lakes, includ- 

 ing a part of Madison, Onondaga, Cayuga, Sene- 

 ca, Yates and Ontario counties. On what is call- 

 ed the great limestone region of west New York, 

 wheat will undoubtedly be preferred to barley as 

 an article of culture; and it may be remarked as a 

 general rule, that on all soils where good barley 

 can be grown, the suitable application of lime wili 

 ensure the success of wheat. 



Perhaps there is no crop which demands and 

 repays thorough working of the soil better than 

 barley. The surface when fitted for the reception 

 of the seed, can hardly be made too fine ; and the 

 excellence of the crop is greatly dependent on this 

 point. A crop that occupies the ground so short 

 a time as barley, spring wheat or oats, can hardly 

 be benefited by manure applied directly to them, 

 unless in a thoroughly decomposed state ; and 

 hence it has been found by experience, that these 

 crops succeed better after hoed or root crops to 

 which the manure has been applied, or on turf 

 lands that have received a top-dressing of manure, 

 and been carefully turned over in the fall of the 

 year. The practice, somewhat extensively fol- 

 lowed, of sowing winter wheat after barley, has 

 led to the application of the manure to the barley 

 crop ; and perhaps where hoed crops cannot pre- 

 cede, this is the preferable way, though there is a 

 great risk of too much straw, and the consequent 

 lodsing of the barley before ripening. 



Barley should be sown in all cases, as soon as 



