CEREALS 87 



In large tracts of India barley is sown and grown 

 mixed with wheat. The operation of separating the 

 barley from the wheat takes time, and it is unprofitable 

 if the outlet for the separated barley is bad. Dealers 

 and shippers of wheat alike found it more profitable, and 

 more convenient in a spasmodic trade like theirs, to ship 

 the barley in the wheat, and to take the risk of allowances 

 than to separate it out and sell it on a narrow local 

 market. Millers at home were equipped for separating 

 the two kinds of grain, and were prepared to accept a 

 little extra barley without great complaint, so long as 

 they got a reasonable price for it on the home market. 



The barley, after being separated by the millers, was 

 often mixed with barley from other sources; and even 

 when it was not so mixed there was probably no 

 gratuitous advertising of its origin. It was bought and 

 used by stock-feeders, brewers, and others who did not 

 concern themselves about its source, and w r ho tolerated 

 as customary a certain proportion of dead grain. 



In 1907 the terms of the Indian wheat contract were 

 so altered as to limit to 2 per cent, the admixture of 

 barley in wheat cargoes. For some years this was not 

 strictly adhered to. It took time to get the new system 

 into working order. There was no large local market 

 for barley, and Indian barley as such was little known 

 on the European markets. Consequently, there was for 

 some time a persistent disposition to ship excess barley 

 and to meet such allowances as might be due. But the 

 tendency was towards elimination of barley. The supply 

 of barley separated in India increased in that country, 

 and there was a corresponding decrease in the supply in 

 Europe of barley derived from Indian wheat cargoes. 

 In the Indian market barley in the harvest season became 

 relatively cheap. Conversely, in those months in which 

 Indian supplies had formerly come forward, the price 

 of barley in the United Kingdom hardened. A margin 

 appeared. Experimental shipments were made. The 

 business was found relatively profitable. The separation 

 of barley was therefore carried further, and it became 

 the general practice to ship Indian wheat without any 

 excess barlev. 



