p,yryr:^o jit 



901 



Vol, KVIIT, Second Series. 



ROCHESTER, N. Y., APRIL, 1857. 



No. 4 



CULTIVATION OF BAKIEY, 



The cultivation of barley is receiving more and 

 more attention every year in this section. The un- 

 certainty of the wheat crop since 

 the prevalence of the midge, and 

 the increasing consumption of La- 

 ger bier, render barley one of the 

 most profitable crops that can be 

 raised on many farm?. The geo- 

 graphical raiige of barley is greater 

 than that of cither wheat or oats; 

 it is cultivated under the scorching 

 suns of Africa and 

 Central Asia, and 

 in the northern re- 

 gions of Europe 

 and America. Its 

 susceptibility of ra- 

 pid and vigorous 

 groTj^fh, without in- 

 jury to the perfect 

 development and 

 maturity of the 

 seed, fits it admira- 

 bly for ripening un- 

 der the intense and 

 steady heat of the 

 South, or the short- 

 lived summers of 

 the North. 



It is probable 

 that all tlie kinds 

 of barley in gene- 

 FiG. 1. ral cultivation are 



varieties of one species, of v/hicb the 

 Hordaim di^tichuni of Linn-bus is 

 the type. The spikelets of this ge- 

 nus always standing in threes, and 

 the threes being placed back to 

 back, it is evident that every ear of 

 barley must consist of six rows of 

 3pikelets. If the middle spikelet of 

 each set of threes is alone perfect, 

 the side spikelets being abortive, we 

 hnve the common two rowed barley 

 (H. di.Hichvm) and its many varie- 

 ties ; it' the two lateral of each fet 

 of three is perfect, and the central 

 J spikelets imperfect, as sometime? hap- 

 ptns^, then we have four rowed barley ; if, on the 

 other hand, all the spikelets are perfect, we have six 



Fig. 2. 



rowed barley (H. hexastichvm) ; but the cases of 



four rowed barley being merley accidental, they may 

 be referred to the six rowed form, 

 and thus we have only two principal 

 kinds of barley, the two rowed and 

 six rowed. The former is the only 

 kind of barley that has been found 

 apparently wild. 



The annexed engravings (figs. 1, 

 2, 3 and 4,) represent some of the 

 best varieties of the two rowed bar- 

 ley. The drawings were taken from 

 specimens grown under circum- 

 stances equally suitable fa them re- 

 spectively, and they may thus be com- 

 pared with seme confidence. The 

 common two rowed barley (figl) is 

 perhaps cultivated to a greater ox- 

 tent in this country and in England 

 than any other variety. It is re- 

 markable for its early maturity and 

 adaptation to a great variety of 

 soils. Haxton, an 

 English writer of 

 great experience, 

 says : " For light 

 soils of an inferior 

 nature, this barley 

 is undoubtedly bet- 

 ter adapted than 

 almost any other 



kind; and even on cold clay land, 



its early maturity and free manner 



of growing give it a decided superi- 

 ority over those varieties which, 



although of finer quality, are later 



of coming to maturity." 



The Chevalier barley (fig. 2) has 



thicker and stifler straw than the 



common two rowed barley, ripens 



later, and on a rich soil will yield a 



heavier crop. In England it has a 



higii reputation with- the malstcrs, 



who will pay five or six cents a 



bushel more for it than for the for- 

 mer. The soils best adapted for 



this variety are a black and rich 



sandy loam, though a rather heavy 



clay soil that breaks down readily 



into a fine, loose mould frequently, 



when the season is favorable for self ing the land into 



good condition and sowing early, produces large crops. 



Fig. 3. 



