BAR 



BAR 



13 



by using them what their temper 

 is, asici uhethfT tlicy will bear it. 

 A rouiidi'ig edge is best for chop 

 ping large log?, a straighter one 

 for smaller wood. 



Let the helve of an axe be made 

 of the toughest of wood, either wal- 

 nut or white oak. Let it bt set in 

 the centre ofthe eye, and at right 

 angles with the outer side of the 

 axe ; let it be small near the eje, 

 that the haiids may not be too 

 muchjnrred by the strokes in chop- 

 ping, and gradually larger towards 

 the other end. Three feet is the 

 greatest length that almost ever 

 will be needful : Shorter for chop- 

 ping sticks not uncommonly large. 

 It should never be less than 32 in- 

 ches. 



A good deal of rubbing with a 

 whetstone, (after an axe is ground 

 on a coarse grindstone,) is best ; 

 not only to bring it to a good edge 

 that will not crumble, but chieil) 

 to make the blade very smooth, 

 that it may enter the wood easily, 

 and not stick too fast when entered. 



B. 



BARLEY, Hordeum, a well 

 known grain of which malt is made. 

 In some countries, it is also much 

 used for bread. If it be kept long 

 before grinding, it will be the bet- 

 ter for this use, as a certain bitter 

 taste, which it has when new, is 

 abated by age. Barley is account- 

 ed cooling and detersive ; a broth 

 of it is therefore given to persons 

 in fevers : But it must be hulled 

 before it is fit for this use. 



It is a sort of corn very suitable 

 for cultivation in this region, as it 



seems liable to no distemper, in our 

 noi-therly part of Massachusetts 

 especially ; bears the drought well, 

 and never fails of yielding a crop. 

 1 have commonly gained 40 bush- 

 els per acre, without any extraor- 

 dinary tillage, and without much 

 manuring. It will grow in any 

 soil : Even a soil so clayey that it 

 is tit for scarcely any other grain, 

 will answer well for this, as 1 have 

 found by long exp»,'rience. But it 

 does better on some other soils. 



It should be sowed as early as 

 the season and soil will admit. — 

 About the begiiming of May is a 

 suitable time. The quantity of 

 seed for an acre is two bushels, if 

 the grain be small ; if larger, moife 

 in proportion. A correspondent 

 of the Bath Agricultural Society 

 writes : '"The last spring (1783) 

 being remarkably dry. 1 soaked my 

 seed barley in the black water, 

 taken from a reservoir, which con- 

 stantly receives the draining of my 

 dung heap and stables. As the 

 light corn floated on the top, I 

 skimmed it off, and let the rest 

 stand 24 hours. On taking it from 

 the water, I mixed the grain with 

 a sufficient quantity of sifted wood 

 ashes, to make it spread regularly, 

 and sowed three fields with it. — 

 The produce was 60 bushels per 

 acre. I sowed some other fields 

 with the same seed dry ; but the 

 crop, like those of my neighbours, 

 was very poor, not more than 20 

 bushels per acre, and much mixed 

 with green corn and weeds, when 

 harvested. I also sowed some of 

 my seed dry on one ricige in each 

 of my former fields, but the pro- 

 duce was very poor in comparison 



