236 MONTHLY JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURE. 



Barley Straw. — If the barley is cut quite green, and the straw is cured so 

 that a considerable portion of it retains this color, it is eaten by cattle, in cold 

 weather, almost as readily as hay. It is softer than the other straws, and is 

 much more readily eaten by all kinds of stock, where the process of cutting is 

 not resorted to. I usually cut my oat straw for my horses ; I feed the barley 

 straw uncut to my cows. For two winters, it has been my custom to give the 

 latter two feeds of barley straw a day, and one lightish one of hay, with a feed 

 of from six to eight quarts of turnips. They will do as well on this as on a full 

 supply of hay, and it is much cheaper. I have also fed barley straw without 

 hay, giving turnips, or a little barley meal. Either way is cheaper than winter- 

 ing on hay exclusively, and with proper management will do as well. 



Barley in the Rotation of Crops. — It is customary among the best farmers in 

 this region, to take but three grain or root crops before seeding down. The first 

 is generally a hoed crop, on good soils, viz., corn, potatoes and turnips. The 

 first crop receives all the manure. Where the manure is not applied very plen- 

 tifully, wheat is often the second crop, and barley or oats the third, with grass 

 seeds. But it is common, with many (who make large quantities of manure), to 

 manure their turnips, potatoes, and as much of their corn as they can, very 

 bountifully— say from 40 to 60 loads per acre. In this case barley is the second 

 crop, followed by wheat and grass seeds. On ordinary lands I have sometimes 

 sown oats on the inverted sward without manure ; followed them with hoed 

 crops, well manured ; and then seeded down with barley. This leaves the land 

 in capital condition for good, luxuriant meadows. On some lands, spring wheat 

 would be more profitable than oats as the first crop in this series. But whatev- 

 er the order of my rotation, barley invariably constitutes one of its crops. A 

 very extensive and successful farmer here takes but two crops before seeding 

 down, viz., roots or corn highly manured, then barley with grass seeds. He 

 prefers to purchase his oats, and raises barely enough wheat for his own use. 



Advantages of Barley over Indian Corn. — On prime corn lands, and where 

 force enough can be obtained to manage it, no crop will yield a belter profit than 

 cern ; indeed, no one, perhaps, equals it. But it requires the choicest land, great 

 quantities of manure, a great amount of labor, and a favorable climate. On no 

 ordinary farm can all the arable land be kept in a suitable condition for corn ; on 

 many farms the requisite amount of manure cannot be had. It is difficult, and 

 would be here impossible to obtain suflicient labor to manage the crop, if it be- 

 came anything like a general substitute for the other grains. And finally, on 

 many of our hill lands corn is always a precarious crop, even with the best man- 

 agement, by reason of the shortness of time between the spring and autumn 

 frosts. 



When any of these considerations prevent tlie rearing of corn, I regard barley 

 as the best substitute. It has these advantages over the former : it does not ab- 

 solutely require so rich land as corn, though, as I have said, it will yield a prof- 

 itable return on the very richest land. Its cultivation requires no more labor 

 than the cultivation of wheat. It will ripen in the shortest season and on the 

 frostiest lands. Its early ripening gives it an advantage over corn under any cir- 

 cumstances, for summer and fall feed to cattle and swine. Where pork is fat- 

 tened to any considerable extent, this is an important consideration. Pork is 

 made nearly a half cheaper in warm than in cold weather ; and to make its pro- 

 duction profitable, swine should be at least one-third fatted by the time corn is 

 ripe. 



Threshing Barley. — This may be done by machines, by the fiail, or by horses. 

 It threshes more easily than wheat or oats. Much is written about " hummel- 

 ing," or breaking off the awns or beards from the grain. I thresh out the grain 

 as I would oats, and that is all. It is then fit to be sent to the mill to be ground 

 into meal for stock. 



Storing Barley.— 1 put it into bins holding, say one hundred bushels each, m 

 a granary ; and I never have had occasion to move it or shovel it over, and I 

 never have had any receive injury. 



You will please excuse me for the desultoriness of these rapid remarks — and, 



believe me, sir, Your friend imd obedient serv't, HENRY S. RANDALL. 



John S. Skinnek, Esq. 



(47G) 



