1838] 



F A R M E 11 S' REGISTER. 



205 



llie grountl is pulllcioiitly diied ami wariDed to al- 

 low ihe seeds to iferiniiiatc trccly, and |)lace them 

 beyond the danifer of injury from frost. Early 

 iVo'sts are more liital to barley than tosprintr wheat 

 or oats, and more injurious on wet or low lands 

 than on dry or elevated ones. Particular atten- 

 tion must be paid to the dryness ol' the soil at the 

 time ol'sowinir, especially if naturally inclininii: to 

 wet, as on such soils a wet sprini^ will starve and 

 destroy the plants. " SteepiuiX the seed lor twen- 

 Ibur hours in sole water, will cause the grain to 

 gcrminaie at the same time; and this, if it i^^ 

 sown at a late period, is of more importance than 

 may be generally imagined, as it is otherwise a|)t 

 to ripen unequally." (Brit. Hus.) The finest, 

 lieaviest samples of all grains are usually obtained 

 from early sown fields; and the difference in 

 weiglit in barley and oats, is from one-fillh to one- 

 third in liivor of early sowing. The smut is the 

 only disease to which barley is subject, and this is 

 rarely a serious injury, where the crop is grown 

 on favorable soils, or the seed is put in in good or- 

 der. The worm which has proved so destructive 

 to wheat in the eastern counties, has also injured 

 the barley in a considerable degree ; but in west 

 New York, we have neither seen nor heard of its 

 appearance in this grain. The wire- worm is 

 sometimes very destructive to the crop when 

 young ; and in some seasons, the meadow mole, 

 so called, when the grain approaches maturity, 

 makes sad havoc by cutting down the plant to get 

 at the ears ; an effect more often observed when 

 the barley is sown on turf leys, as they will rarely 

 lie so close as not to leave numberless hiding- 

 places to the animal. 



In sowing barley, as in most other crops, the 

 universal experience of English farmers, and the 

 directions of the best works on agriculture, go to 

 establish the fact, that less seed is required on rich 

 lands than on poor, and that the quantity of seed 

 used should be increased in proportion to the late- 

 ness of the sowing. In European countries, from 

 ten to eighteen pecks per acre is used ; sixteen 

 being the quantity usually recommended ; in this 

 country from two to three bushels is considered 

 sufficient for the acre. The two-rowed requires 

 less than the six-rowed, as it tillers more vigorous- 

 ly ; and if sown too thicli, the plants will be weak 

 and ripen irregularly. 



Botli the quantity and quality of the product 

 depend on the soil, and the variety of the grain 

 €own. In this country, the average crop may be 

 stated from thirty to thirty-five bushels per acre ; 

 in England, the average produce is estimated at 

 thirty-two bushels. Middleton says, the crop in 

 that country varies from fifteen to seventy-five 

 bushels an acre. The greatest crop we have seen 

 mentioned in this country was sixty-five bushels 

 per acre, and that was grown on land from which 

 several crops had been taken in succession. In 

 an experiment made by the East Lothian Agri- 

 cultural Society upon the chevalier, and a com- 

 mon sort of barley, both sown on a light gravelly 

 soil, the produce of each per imperial acre, was — 

 chevalier, 65 bushels 2 pecks of grain, weighins; 

 56^ lbs. per bushel. Common barley gave 61 

 bushels 2 pecks of grain, and weighed 54| lbs. 

 per bushel. 



Good qualities of the two-rowed, will average 

 about 52 or 53 lbs. per bushel ; but the winter, or 

 six-rowed varieties, will not exceed 43 to 40 lbs. 



The diderencc in malting is groat; the experi- 

 ments of Dv. Smith, showing that a Winchester 

 quarter of the several varieties, when malted, 

 would produce the following quantities oi" prool' 

 spirits, viz : 



English barley about 21. i gallons, 

 Scotch barley " 19:1 " 



Scotch bis 



16^ 



Or that English barley was 11 per cent, superior 

 to Scotch, and lull 12 per cent, above Scotch bicif, 

 or winter barley. 



The value of the several kinds of grain as an 

 article of food, may be estimated from the follow- 

 ing table; the quality of the flour being good 

 household or fiamily flour. 



Wheat, if weighing 60 lbs. of flour 48 lbs. of bread 61 lbs. 

 l^ye, 54 42 56 



Barley, 4S .S7Jj 50 



Oats, 40 22^ 30 



(Brit. Hus.) 



The analysis of barley by Sir H. Davy, gives 

 as contained in 100 parts : 



79 per cent, of mucilage or starchj 

 7 of saccharine matter, 

 6 of gluten or albumen. 



Owing to the deficiency of this latter substance, or 

 gluten, barley flour, like that of oats, buckwheat 

 or potatoes, cannot be made into bread alone, but 

 is mxied with wheat flour, or eaten in the form of 

 cakes, when it is very wholesome and palatable. 



Barley is perhaps one of the most diflicuit of the 

 grains to .secure in good condition ; as, ifsuff'ered 

 to stand until the berry is perfectly dry and hard, 

 the head will frequently drop down, owing to the 

 briitleness of the straw ; and if cut too early, the 

 grain will shrink and lose in weight; and as it 

 cannot when cut in an unripe stale be put into 

 barns or stacks without certain injury by heating, 

 so in unfavorable weather it is very apt to become 

 of a black color, and lose the clear yellowish- 

 white tinge so characteristic of good and well- 

 cured barley. The usually fine state of our at- 

 mosphere, and the clear dry air of our summers, 

 render the proper curing of barley a much les.s 

 difficult task here, than in the moist climate and 

 cloudy skies of Great Britain. 



Before the introduction of threshing machines, 

 barley, though easily threshed by horses or by 

 hand, was with great difficulty prepared lor mar- 

 ket, owing to the obstacles offered in separating 

 the awn from the kernel ; and at the present time 

 in many districts of England, and most parts of 

 the continent, the Immmeliiig, or freeing the berry 

 Irom the beard, is one of the most laborious and 

 difficult processes in the culture of barley. 



Barley is extensively used in the fattening o^' 

 pork, lor which purpose it is admirably adapted 

 when prepared by steaming or grinding ; and in 

 the districts where it is grown, is an excellent sub- 

 stitute for the corn crop, which for a iew years 

 past has been a partial failure. It is also used in 

 large {juantities in our breweries, and in too many 

 instances takes the place of rye in the manufacture 

 of whiskey. As a feed for horses it is not gene- 

 rally approved, but for fattening cattle, hogs and 

 [>oultry, it is highly prized. Belbre the system of 

 cutting straw, or manger- feeding was generally 



