BARLEY. 



BARLEY. 



minor varieties of two-rowed barley are nume- 

 rous, and are distinguished chiefly by the 

 quality of the grain, and by their habit of early 

 or later ripening ; and some varieties are more 

 productive than others : effects apparently de- 

 pendent upon differences of climate and situ- 

 ation. 



Barley is an annual plant, but like wheat it 

 may be sown in autumn, and then it acquires 

 the habit of later ripening, and is termed winter 

 barley. 



Two-rowed naked barley is said to have 

 been introduced into England in the year 1768. 

 It is now little cultivated, and is by some as- 

 serted, though without any evidence, to merge 

 into the common species. 



The next species, two-rowed sprat, or battle- 

 dore barley, is scarcely cultivated in England, 

 the shortness of the straw being regarded as 

 an objection ; but it is much esteemed in Ger- 

 many, where it is termed rice barley, owing to 

 its smelling like rice in boiling, when it is de- 

 corticated. 



The fourth enumerated species is six-rowed 

 barley. When sown before winter, this species 

 acquires the habit of late-ripening, and is then 

 termed winter barley. 



One of the kinds of six-rowed barley, and 

 the best known in this country, is bere, bear, 

 or bigg. Bigg ripens its seeds in a shorter 

 period than the two-rowed barleys. It is culti- 

 vated very generally in the north of Scotland, 

 in Denmark, Sweden, and other parts of Eu- 

 rope, and in the south of England for green 

 iood in spring, and for this purpose is sown 

 early in the autumn. The number of its grains 

 is greater than in the two-rowed kinds, but 

 they do not weigh so heavy in proportion to 

 their bulk. It is hence regarded as an inferior 

 crop, and is only cultivated in the more elevated 

 parts of the country. It ripens very early when 

 sown in spring, thence the advantages which it 

 possesses in a late climate. (Low's Prac. Agr. 

 p. 240.) 



The six-rowed naked barley is cultivated in 

 various parts of Europe, and is greatly es- 

 teemed for its fertility. In some parts of Ger- 

 many it is regarded as the most valuable kind 

 of barley, and by the French, on account of 

 its supposed productiveness, it has been termed 

 orge celeste. An excellent variety of this naked 

 barley has been produced by Mr. C. Alderman, 

 of Kintbury, in Berkshire, and M. Mazucco, 

 in a French paper, earnestly recommends the 

 more general cultivation of naked barley, as 

 he states that it weigh* a much as the best 

 wheats, and its quality resembles them so much 

 that it may be used for the purpose of making 

 good bread, and also for pearl barley. In 

 mountainous countries, its produce is twenty- 

 four to one. (Quart. Jo urn., of Agi: vol. iii. p. 

 373.) This and the other superior kinds of 

 barley deserve more attention than they have 

 yet received. Mr. Warren Hastings, (in an 

 article in the Com. to the Board of Agr. vol. vi. 

 p. 304), after twelve years' experience in the 

 cultivation of naked barley, very justly ob- 

 serves, " thai it is of the greatest importance 

 to promote the culture of this sort of grain." 

 " It is," he adds, " the corn that, next to rice, 

 gives the greatest weight of flour per acre, and 

 140 



it may be eaten with no other preparation than 

 that of boiling. It requires little or no dress- 

 ing when it is sent to the mill, having no husk, 

 and consequently produces no bran. It is 

 gathered into the barn, and may even be con- 

 sumed, when the seasons are favourable, in 

 about eighty or ninety days after being sown; 

 and there is no species of grain better calcu- 

 lated for countries where the summer is short, 

 provided the vegetation be rapid." 



The last of the species to be mentioned, 

 says Professor Low, is six-rowed sprat, or 

 battledore barley. This has been sometimes 

 termed six-rowed barley; whereas the charac- 

 ter of six-rowed barley does not belong to it 

 alone. An examination of the plant will show 

 that it is the common battledore barley, with 

 all the florets entire. Much confusion has 

 arisen in the arrangement by agriculturists of 

 the cultivated barleys, and in an especial de- 

 gree, by their speaking of four-rowed and six- 

 rowed kinds. There is, however, no barley to 

 which the term four-rowed can be applied. 

 Barley is termed two-rowed, or six-rowed, ac- 

 cording to the number of its fertile florets. In 

 two-rowed barley, one row of florets on each 

 of the two sides of the spike is fertile, and 

 consequently one row of seeds on each side is 

 perfected. 



In six-rowed barley, three rows on each side 

 are perfected. In this sense only it is termed 

 six-rowed barley. But there is no species 

 known to us in which only two rows on each 

 side of the spike are fertile. Slightly examined, 

 indeed, six-rowed barleys frequently present 

 the appearance of four rows ; but this is in 

 appearance only, for such barleys have always 

 the three rows on each side perfect. In poor 

 soils and unfavourable situations, two of the 

 rows run much into each other, and this has 

 perhaps given rise to the mistake ; but the 

 tw(. rows which thus run into each other in 

 appearance are on the opposite sides of the ra- 

 chis. I have ventured, adds Professor Low 

 (from whose work the above preliminary ob- 

 servations are taken), to propose a new ar- 

 rangement of the cultivated barleys ; under 

 which it will be seen that the Hordtum vulgare 

 of some botanists is Hordeum hexnsHchum, and 

 that of the Hordeum hexastichum, of some bota- 

 nists is Hordeum hexasticho-zeocriion. Particu- 

 lar varieties have been in great repute at differ- 

 ent times, when first introduced, and then seem 

 to have, on many soils, lost their superiority. 

 " Of this kind is the Moldavian barley, which 

 was much sought after some years ago; and 

 lately, the Chevalier barley, so called from the 

 gentleman who first brought it into notice, has 

 risen into great repute. It is said, that, having 

 observed an ear of barley in his field, greatly 

 superior to the rest, he carefully sowed the 

 seed, and cultivated it in his garden, till he had 

 a sufficient quantity to sow a field. It has 

 since been extremely multiplied and diffused 

 through the country. Some eminent maltsters 

 and brewers have declared, that it forms more 

 saccharine matter than any other sort; and 

 the trials hitherto made have convinced most 

 agriculturists that it is not only heavier in the 

 grain, but more productive. In 1832 Lord 

 Leicester, who was always foremost in all agri- 



