302 MONTHLY JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURE, 



when they come home at night from school, to read every night a few pages ; 

 and let them accustom themselves to putting on paper notes of what may occur, 

 m the way of commentary on what they read. 



See, in this letter about barley, how one of the most distinguished brewers, 

 even of the celebrated " Poughkeepsie Ale," has been looking thoroughly into 

 his business, even through the breweries of London ; and how he can, at once 

 and off-hand, tell more about the different kinds of barley than one farmer out of 

 ten thousand ? May not the reflecting farmer, even in this, read a lesson of in- 

 struction ? Is there anything in this letter on the varieties and properties of bar- 

 ley that any young, enlightened agriculturist should be ignorant of? Mr. Vassar 

 was among the many who, at the Poughkeepsie Show, did, indeed, throw his 

 house open to the stranger within the gates. There Committees were in attend- 

 ance to hunt for and take charge of gentlemen coming from distant States to ob- 

 serve the products of the land, and in doing so could not be expected to shut their 

 eyes to the habits and icai/s of the people. Every gentleman's house was the 

 house of every gentleman. 



The information here given was sought from Mr. Vassar with a view to ap- 

 pend it, more particularly for the benefit of inquiring friends in Maryland, to the 

 clear and satisfactory communication from Mr. Randall, which, we see, as we 

 expected, has found its way into that safe, and sound, and well-wearing old re- 

 pository of agricultural knowledge, the American Farmer — into which, we doubt 

 not, this will follow it, with or without these remarks. 



Poughkeepsie, N. Y., November 96, 1846. 



Dear Sir : Your letter of the 19th ultimo came to hand in my absence, or it 

 would have been replied to ere this. In answer to your questions, '•Whether 

 there is usually a difference in the price of four and two-rowed barley, and what 

 that difference is, and on what founded ? &c. &;c." I reply, yes. The former is 

 usually preferred by the trade on account of its superior malting properties, espe- 

 cially during the warm period of the malting season, requiring some three to five 

 days less time to finish the process. It also yields more saccharine matter, pound 

 for pound, compared with the two-rowed ; the latter, possessing more gluten, 

 germinates more slowly, and is therefure more difficult to convert into perfect 

 malt. 



The difference in price depends on their respective weights ; the nearer the 

 four approaches the weight of the two-rowed, tlie greater difference there is in 

 price — and vice versa. When the former weighs 47 to 48 lbs. per bushel, and 

 the latter 48 to 50 lbs., there are usually three to five cents in favor of the four- 

 rowed, provided each grain is equally sound, &:c. 



It may be proper here to remark that the two-rowed barley in this State has 

 greatly deteriorated within the last ten to fifteen years, chiefly through the neg- 

 ligence of the farmers in not selecting pure seed. The soil and climate, I am 

 aware, have much to do in producing the necessary properties of good malting 

 barley ; but the inferiority of our two-rowed may be attributed chiefly to a mix- 

 ture of several species of the same kind. 



Large quantities of two-rowed were many years ago raised in the Slate of 

 Rhode Island, and which was a heavy, coarse, dark and thick-skinned grain, 

 very difficult to germinate. In the process of time it found its Avay into this 

 State, and is traceable in all our two-rowed at the present day. 



My father visited England in 1821, and bruuiiht over some twenty bushels 

 of JS'orfolk barley (^two-rowed). This was a short, plump kernel, thin skin, 

 and very free to tnall. In some sections of this State it is still discernible, but 

 more or less mixed. The four-rowed is not so liable to deteriorate, as it ma- 

 tures or is ready to harvest several days earlier than the two-rowed. I believe 

 there is no four-rowed raised in England ; or, at least, none is used in brewing. 

 The climate, being more cold and humid, is better adapted for the growth of 

 tlie two-rowed ; and we find iu this country that this kind of barley does best ou 



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