14 



B A R 



BAR 



of the other parts of llic field." 

 The ground should have two 

 ploughings at least. It sliould be 

 well harrowed after sowing ; and 

 then a roller passed over it to close 

 the soil about the corns, that they 

 may not fail of vegetating. And 

 rolling prepares the surface for 

 mowing the crop, and raking it up 

 clean, which is a matter of great 

 importance. For it is impossible 

 to rake it up clean, when the 

 ground has been laid rough at 

 sowing. 



In Scotland, after the grain is 

 up, the farmers, near the sea coast, 

 give it a top dressing of sea weeds, 

 which has an excellent effect. This 

 practice I would recommend to 

 those of my countrymen who farm 

 near the sea. 



1 should have observed, that bar- 

 ley must be sowed soon after 

 ploughing, lest the moisture of the 

 soil be too much evaporated. It 

 being a dry husky grain, a consid- 

 erable degree of moisture is requi- 

 site to make it vegetate. If the 

 ground should be very dry at sow- 

 ing time, and the season late, steep- 

 ing the seed in lie would not be 

 amiss. Steeping it in the wash of a 

 barn yard has an excellent effect. 



Some have got an opinion, (hat 

 barley should be harvested before 

 it is quite ripe. 7'hough the flour 

 may be a little whiter, the grain 

 shrinks so much, that the crop 

 seems to be greatly diminished and 

 wasted by early cutting. No grain, 

 I think, requires more ripening than 

 this ; and it is not apt to shatter 

 out when it is very ripe. It should 

 be threshed soon after harvesting : 

 And much beating, after it is clear- 



ed from the straw, is needful to 

 get off the beards. Let it lie a 

 night or two in the dew after it is 

 cut, and the beards will come off 

 the more easily. 



I had gained the idea of the ne- 

 cessity of barley's being well rip- 

 ened before cutting, from my own 

 experience. I have been more 

 confirmed in the opinion, by the 

 following passage in an English 

 writer, who appears to have been 

 well acquainted with the culture of 

 this corn. " This grain," says he, 

 "may be greatly damaged, or 

 spoiled, by being mown too soon ; 

 which may afterwards be discov- 

 ered by its shrivelled and lean 

 body, that never will make good 

 malt.'' 



The same writer says, "This 

 grain I annually sow in my fields on 

 different soils, whereby i have 

 brought to my knowledge, several 

 differences arising therefrom. On 

 our red clays, this grain generally 

 comes off reddish at both ends, and 

 sometimes all over, with a thick 

 skin and tough nature, somewhat 

 like the soil it grows in ; and, 

 therefore, is not so valuable as that 

 of contrary qualities. Nor are the 

 biack, bluish, marly clays, of the 

 vale much better : But loams and 

 gravels are better. On these two 

 last soils the barley acquires a 

 whitish body, a thin skin, a short 

 plump kernel, and a sweet flour." 



Barley is a corn that is very apt 

 to degenerate, unless prevented by 

 a frequent changing of the seed. 



If ever so few oats are sown 

 among barley, the crop, in a few 

 years, will come to be mostly oats ; 

 because oats increase more than 



