NEW e:^gl.a]^d farmer. 



Published by John B. Russell, at JVn. 52 J\rorth Market Street, (over the Agricultural Warehouse) Thomas G. Fessenden Editor. 



VOL. YII. 



BOSTON, FRIDAY, DECEMBER 26, 1828. 



No. 23. 



AIG R I C U L T U R E. 



' FOR THE NEW ENGLAXD FARMER. 



BARLEY. 



Mr Fessenden — I received the inclosed from Dr 

 Ehadfohd, some time since, as you will see by the date 

 of his letter, anJ intended yon should have had itforpub- 

 , lication much sooner, but was desirous of showing it to 

 Bome of my agricultural fi'iends, which has caused the de- 

 • lay ; when it U considered that Dr }3RADifoRD k concern- 

 ed in an extensive brewery, and very competent to inves- 

 tigate and determine the quality uf barley, it cannot he 

 doubted the publication of his letter will tend to induce 

 cultivators to give their attention to the subjict. The 

 Barley, Wheat, and Rye, which I raised this year was or- 

 dinary, the kernels much shrivelled, the barley weighing 

 only forty-one pounds per bushel ; much of Ibis piay be 

 iinpute(kto the season, which was unfavorable for every 

 kind of grain (Indian corn only excepted) in my neigh- 

 borhood, but a large part of the fiilure, I an inclined to 

 think, was owing to the quality of the seed. 



Your frieud and humble scrvint, 



GORHAM EARSONS. 

 Brigliton, Dec. 24, 132S. 



Dear Sir — You may remember, some time 

 since, a conversation respecting barlet', and tliat 

 yon then observed that any informatbn on the 

 subject would be put in a proper trail for reaeli- 

 ius; those interested in the iinproveniejt of agri- 

 culture. The folloiving extract froman article 

 on Brewinij, v.ritten lij' Professor Thoii?on. con- 

 tains many things that I think should be known to 

 fanners, since it is evidently for their interest to 

 cultivate a valuable, instead of an indifierout arti- 

 cle. 



" Barley is the seed of the Hordeum vulgare, a 

 plant which has been cultivated from time im- 

 memorial, chiefly for the manufacture of beer 



There are two species of Hordeum under cultiva- 

 tion in Britain ; 1st. The Hordeum vidgtre, or 

 barie3-, in which the seeds are disposed in two 

 rows on the spike. This is the species usually 

 cultivated in England and in the southcrii parts 

 of Scotland. 2d. The Hordeum hexastichon, call- 

 ed in the South of Scotland bear, and in Aber- 

 deenshire, big. In this species the grains are dis- 

 posed in two rows as in the other ; but these 

 seeds spring from the same point, so that the head 

 of big appears to have the seeds disposed In six 

 rows. Big is a much more hardy plant thai: bar- 

 ley and ripens more rapidly. Hence it tl rives 

 better than barley in cold and high situations. — 

 On this account it is sown in preference in the 

 Highlands and northern parts of Scotland, vhere 

 the climate is colder than more to the south. Wc 

 have been assured that there is a third speacs of 

 Hordeum cultivated in Scotland, in whic^ the 

 seeds in the spike are arranged in four rows. To 

 this the term hear is exclusively confined by sonic. 

 We have not, ourselves, had an opportunity of ex- 

 amining this species, nor do we find it noticed by 

 botanists.' The trivial name tetrastichon might be 

 Applied to it. 



The grains of barley are much larger than those 

 of big, and the cuticle which covers them is thin- 

 ner. Indeed the thickness of the skin of barley 



itself varies according to the heat of the cliniatr 

 in which it is cultivated, being always the tliinuer, 

 the warmer the climate. 



The sjiecific gravity of bailey is rather greater 

 tliau that of big. Tlie average weiglit of a Win- 

 chester busliel of barley, was found to be 50-7 lbs. 



ley, on the contrary, we shall find almost all the 

 grains nearly of a size, though in some cases, the 

 grain constituting the upper termination of the 

 spike is rather smaller than the rest. 



These circumstances may strike the reader as 

 too minute and trifling to be stated in such detail, 



avoirdupois, and the aveiage weight of the bushel ) but we shall find afterwards, that they will furnish 



1 „„. i,„..i... . 1 us with an explanation of some anomalous circum- 

 stances that occur when these two species of hor- 

 deum are converted into malt. The value of bar- 

 ley, (or its produce in alcohol) is rather improved, 

 while big on the contrary, is deteriorated in malt- 

 ing it at least 20 per cent." 



Such are the remarks of Professor Thomson, 

 and they are founded on very careful experiments. 

 My own opportunities of making similar experi- 

 ments and acquiring sinnlar information respect- 

 ing the barley of this country, have been too limit- 

 ed to speak at much length concerning the mat- 

 ter. As far as I have been able to ascertain, 

 there are four species cultivated, namely — 



1st. The Hordeum vulgare, or true English bar- 

 ley. This agrees with Professor Thomson's des- 



of big 46-383 lbs. The heaviest barley tried 

 weighed 52-265 lbs. per bushel, and the heaviest 

 big 48-586 lbs. This big grew in Perthshire, and 

 the season was jicculiarly favorable. It was not 

 absolutely free from a mixture of barley, as was 

 ascertained by sowing a quantity of it — but the 

 proportion of barley was very small. Tlie aver- 

 age weight of a grain of barley is 0-6688 of a 

 grain or nearly two. The average weight of a 

 grain of big is 0-5613 of jt grain. The average 

 length of a grain of barley from many thousand 

 admeasurements is 0-345 of an inch, while that 

 of a grain of big is 0-3245 of an inch. The av- 

 erage breadth of a grain of barley is 0-145 of an 

 inch, while the average breadth of a grain of big 

 is 0-136 inch. The average thickness of a grain 



of barley is 0-1125 inch, while that of a grain ofjcription, and is the most valuable, though unfortu- 

 big is 0-1055 inch. Thus we perceive that the I nately the least common species. It is known by 

 grain of big is smaller than the grain of barley in \ the name of two-rowed barley. A bushel of this 

 all its dimensions. I species' well cleaned, will, as I am informed, for I 



To dGtcrmine the relative weight of the skins have not been fortunate enough to procure such a 

 of barley and big, we made choice of three parcels I sample, weigh from 50 to 54 pounds, 

 of grain, all excellent in their kinds, namely, Nor- 

 folk barley — Haddington barley, and Lanark big. 

 The weight of the whole grain and of the skius of 

 each of these is as follows. 



Weight of a corn in grains. 

 Norfolk barley " " 0-6809 " " 



Haddington barley " «' 0-7120 " " 



Lanark big " " 0-5408 " " 



Weight of skin in grains. 



Norfolk barley " 0-110 or 1-6 



Haddington barley « 0-123 or 1-6 



Lanark big « 0-125 or ^-5 



From this we see that there is little difference 

 between the weight of the skin of Norfolk and 

 Haddington barley ; but a very considerable one 

 between Haddington barley and Lanark big. — 

 Hence it would seem that this difference is not 

 owing to the climate in which the barley vege- 

 tates, but rather to a difference in the nature of 

 the species. The bulks of these two species of 

 grali^are to each other as follows. 



■ ' Barley 0-00217 inch. 



Big "0-001777 inch. 

 These quantities represent the average bulk of a 

 corn of each kind. Thus it appears that a grain 

 of barley is rather more than l-6th part larger 

 than a grain of big. 



Finally, from a comparison of many thousand 

 corns of each species with each other it appears 

 that the inequality betv/een the size of different 

 grains of big is greater than between different 

 grains of barley. Indeed if we examine an ear of 

 big when nearly ripe, we shall perceive that the 

 corns towards the bottom of the ear. are smaller 

 than those towards the summit and about the mid- 

 dle of the ear. Several of those towards the bot- 

 tom are usually abortive or consist only of skin, 

 but this is not always the case. In an ear of bar- 



2d. The Hordeum tetrastichon, or bear. The 

 corns of this species when removed from the spike, 

 resemble those of the first species — indeed it is 

 commonly considered as the same. On a close 

 exar 'ihation they will be found to differ in t-.vo or 

 three particulars — the skin is thicker, the beard 

 harder and stronger, and the back of the corn is 

 marked by a stronger ridge along the centre — it is 

 not so valuable as the former species, weighing 

 from 47 to 50 lbs. only. It is called two-rowed 

 barley like the last, but incorrectly since it grows 

 in four rows, and the ear when growing is thus 

 easily distinguished from that of the true two-row- 

 ed barley. 



3d. The Hordeum hexastichon, or big — com- 

 monly known to our farmers, I beheve, by the 

 name of French or four-rovied barley. It grows 

 as asserted by Thomson, in six rows, or rather 

 two rows, of which each is divided into three. It 

 answers his description very well, and is an infe- 

 rior grain — seldom weighing more than 46 lb. 

 and often not 44 lbs. Unfortunately for the brew- 

 ers it is a common variety. 



4th. The naked, or ball, or potatoe barley, for 

 I have heard it called by all these names, I have 

 never happened to see, and know nothing of its 

 comparative value. 



I cannot but think that it would be for the in- 

 terest of the farmer to cultivate the former of these 

 in our warm climate to the exclusion of the others, 

 certainly to the exclusion of the third species, or 

 big, since it would command a much higher price. 

 It would even he a great improvement in our ag- 

 ricultural system, if farmers would take pains to 

 prepare for the market, parcels of any one of 

 these species by itself. As it is they are always 

 mixed ; the consequence is that when the barlej 

 or bear predominates, the big malt, which is un- 

 profitable enough at any rate, must be rendered 



