22 



The World's Commercial Products 



rollers as " pot barley," and if the grinding is carried still farther the grain is reduced to 

 "pearl barley," so largely used for domestic purposes. 



At the present day, however, barley is largely raised in order to supply the malt for brewing 

 purposes. Enormous areas are under cultivation for this cereal in Europe, especially in 

 Russia, Germany, France, and Turkey, and, as is well known, it is one of the most valuable 

 crops in Great Britain. 



In Russia the crop is chiefly grown in the northern districts, extending right up to the 

 shores of the Arctic Ocean, and large quantities are also raised in southern Russia, but very 

 little barley is grown in the central districts. 



Malting has for its object the production of a ferment known as diastase, which possesses 

 the property of converting starch into sugar. Barley, in common with other grains,. contains 

 a large amount of starch, which during the germination of the seed is converted by the ferment 

 diastase into sugar, and this, in the ordinary course of nature, is utilised by the seedling as foo.d.- 

 In the preparation of malt, the barley is soaked in water, and then allowed to germinate in 

 a favourable temperature until the diastase is fully developed, which occurs when the rootlets 

 are about two-thirds the length of the grain. The germinated barley when dried is known 

 as malt, and after being coarsely ground in a mill it is placed in a vat into which water is 

 allowed to run, the whole mass being carefully stirred to extract the starch and the diastase. 

 In the subsequent " infusion " process, the malt is raised to a temperature of about 140° F., 

 by pouring boiling water into the vat, and, after about four hours, the starch has been 

 converted into sugar by means of the ferment. The conversion of the sugar into alcohol and 

 carbon dioxide is effected by adding brewers' yeast to the liquid, which is drawn off into 

 separate vessels, and, when the fermentation is complete, the alcohol is obtained as such by 

 distillation. 



Great care is exercised in selecting the grain for fermentation, and the barley should be 

 free from chaff, quite fresh, and in fine large grains of a bright colour. 



RYE 



As in the case of other cereals it is doubtful whether rye (Secale cereale) exists in a 

 wild state. It has been described as occurring as a weed in the wheat fields of Afghanistan, 

 and is found apparently wild in Turkestan, but the best evidence goes to show that the true 



home of the plant is in the 

 regions around the Black 

 and the Caspian Seas, an 

 assumption which is sup- 

 ported by the fact that five 

 or six known species of the 

 genus Secale inhabit western 

 temperate Asia, or the south- 

 eastern districts of Europe. 

 The cultivation of the plant 

 appears to be of compara~ 

 tively recent origin, for, 

 unlike barley, for example, 

 no specimens of the grain 

 have been obtained from the 

 Swiss Lake Dwellings, and 

 De Candolle mentions that 

 it has not been found in 

 the Egyptian tombs. These 



A MACARONI -FACTORY 



