BARLEY. 



BARLEY. 



some parts for bread; but the bread, though 

 sufficiently nutritious, is dark and strong- 

 tasted. Barley, in its green state, especially 

 the Siberian winter-barley, makes excellent 

 spring food for milch cows, as is well known 

 to the cow-keepers about London ; it comes in 

 early, and greatly increases the milk. For 

 sheep it is more nourishing than rye, and is 

 earlier. When fed off quite close in April, it 

 will spring up again, and on good land pro- 

 duce a fair crop of grain in August ; but, in 

 general, it is ploughed up as soon as it is fed 

 off, and succeeded by spring tares or turnips. 

 It is also good food for horses, when given in 

 the spring of the year in small proportion with 

 oats, sparingly at first, and after being soaked 

 in water, and allowed to vegetate. It is in ge- 

 neral use in the south of Europe (Com. Board 

 of Agr. vol. vi. p. 299). Mixed with other 

 grain, in its ground state, it has been found an 

 excellent food for fattening bullocks. The 

 straw is employed partially for fodder, but 

 chiefly for litter. It is lighter than the straws of 

 oats and wheat, and less esteemed than either. 

 The awns are given to stock, either in their 

 natural state or boiled. Malt is the great pur- 

 pose, however, to which barley is applied in 

 this country. To understand the process of 

 malting, it may be necessary to observe, that, 

 in the germination of grasses and grains be- 

 fore the young plant is produced, the fecula 

 of the seed is changed by the heat and moist- 

 ure of the earth into sugar and mucilage. 

 Malting grain is only an artificial mode of 

 effecting this object. The grain is steeped in 

 cold water during a certain period ; the water 

 is then allowed to drain off, the grain is spread 

 out into a deep heap : it gradually heats, the 

 rootlets begin to shoot out, afterwards the plu- 

 mula begins to grow ; and when this has grown 

 to a certain extent within the grain, the further 

 germination is checked by exposing the grain 

 on a kiln, heated by fire to such a degree as 

 extinguishes the vitality of the seed. At this 

 period it is found that tke starch is, in a great 

 measure, converted into saccharine matter, 

 and by subsequent fermentation, or distillation, 

 either beer or spirits is obtained. (See FER- 

 MENTATION, MALTING, and BREWING.) It is 

 only necessary to add here that malt requires 

 the best and heaviest barley, with its germinat- 

 ing powers entire. 



Barley was formerly in general use in Eng- 

 land as bread corn : it is still, for this pur- 

 pose, much used on the Continent. It is gene- 

 rally used in the warmer climates as the food 

 for horses, for which purpose, in fact, it ap- 

 pears to answer equally as well as oats. In 

 this country, in some seasons, a considerable 

 saving may be made by using for this purpose 

 inferior barley. This was done in the season 

 of 1840 by Mr. Hewitt Davis, of Spring Park, 

 who sold his oats at the same price that he 

 gave for the barley. And to this end the farmer 

 hould remember, that two parts of barley are 



lly equal, in feeding properties, to three parts 

 oats. In Germany they grind the barley, 

 and form it into cakes, with which they feed 

 their horses ; and it is no unusual circum- 

 stance, in travelling in that country, to see the 

 144 



driver take a slice of the loaf with which he 

 baits his horses. 



Wine made from malt, when kept to a pro- 

 per age, has a good body, and a flavour nearly 

 as agreeable as the generality of Madeira 

 wines. The wort of malt is useful in scurvy, 

 but it is apt to increase the diarrhoea which 

 attends that disease. Barley was used by the 

 ancients for many medicinal purposes. Pot 

 barley, pearl barley, and French barley, are 

 only barley freed from the husk by a mill ; the 

 distinction between them being, that the pearl 

 barley is reduced to the size of small shot, all 

 but the very heart of the grain being ground 

 away. For a description of the mode of ma- 

 nufacture, I refer the reader to the Penny Cy- 

 clop, vol. iii. p. 466. Barley-water is a decoc- 

 tion of either of these, and is reputed soft and 

 lubricating; a very useful cooling drink or 

 gruel in many disorders, and is recommended 

 to be taken with nitre in fevers. Its use is of 

 great antiquity, as Hippocrates wrote a whole 

 book on the merits of gruel made of barley. 

 Barley-water is an admirable liquid to admi- 

 nister any medicine in, being pleasant, emok 

 lient, and cooling. The French or Scotch 

 barley is principally used to thicken broth 

 and soup. 



The German chemist, Einhof, has analysed 

 ripe barley, and found 100 parts to consist of 

 70-05 parts of meal, 18-75 of husk, and 11-20 

 of water. The meal he found to contain 67-18 

 parts of starch, 5-21 of uncrystallizable sugar, 

 4-62 of gum, 3-52 of gluten, 1-15 of albumen, 

 0-24 of superphosphate of lime, and 10-79 of 

 water and loss, in 100 parts. The husk con- 

 tains a bitter principle which is tasted in the 

 decoction of entire barley. 



M. Saussure has carefully analysed the ashes 

 produced by burning barley and its straw, and 

 the result of his experiments is given in Re- 

 cherches Chem. stir la Veg., Paris, 1804. 



The grain reduced to ashes, with its skin, 

 gave, out of 100 parts, 18 of ashes, which con- 

 tained : 



100- 



1000 parts of the straw produced 42 of ashes, 

 containing : 



Potash 16- 



Sulphate of potash ----- 3-5 



Muriate of potash ----- 0-5 



Earthy phosphates ----- 7'75 



Earthy carbonates - - - - - 12 5 



Silica - - 57- 



Metallic oxides . - - - - 05 



Loss 2-25 



100- 



These products no doubt vary in different 

 soils ; but the proportion of silica in the straw 

 and in the skin of barley is remarkable. This 

 barley grew on a chalky soil. In addition to 

 these the cubic saltpetre, or nitrate of soda, is 

 usually found in minute proportions in barley. 





