324 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER, 



April 25, 1832. 



Agriculture. 



BARLEY 



i both ways; and those who liave a mller use it in 

 ' t)ie finishing operation. It gives a sniootli surface, 

 In-eaks clown tlie lumps, hriiigs the earth in con- 



The soil for barley should be such as will grow ta<=t ^^ith the see.l and if grass seeds have been 

 ., , „ ;....i.,,K.,„ „in sown. Its use is douuJv lienencial. 1 steep mv 



good turnips, or other green crops, including do 

 vers, and which embrace the varieties of loains 

 and sands that are not wet, or veiy dry and poor. 

 Indeed, I have taken my crops, and they have 

 been jiretty good, from my lightest turnip soils.— 

 Barley cannot be cultivated to advantage upon stiff, 

 heavy and wet grounds, or on such as are of a 

 cold and tenacious quality. This crop occupies 

 the ground but about three irionths ; and it is only 

 in a dry, light, mellow soil, that its roots can ex 



sown, Its use is douUJy heneficial. 1 steep my 

 seeds twentyfour hotu's in a weak solution ofnitre, 

 the crude kind of which costs me only eight cents 

 per pound by the quantity, r'roni the analysis 

 and observations of Grisenthwaite, there is reason 

 to believe that this salt is peculiarly beneficial to 

 the barley crop, the grain yielding it on analysis. 

 I have made no comparative experiments, but I 

 think this step serviceable. 1 have apjilied to this 

 grain, as a top dressing, with singular success, the 



facility, and snpidy the food i Po^'^'ered dung of pigeons and dunghill fowls, at 



tend with suth 



necessary to bring the grain to rapid and perfect 



mafiuity. 



Previous Crop.— Ci-o\>s that precede this grain 

 should be such as leave the ground mellow, and 

 free from weeds ; and for this reason hoed crops 

 are to be preferred, such as turnips, potatoes, peas, 

 beans, &c. Small grains should not precede it ; 

 they impoverish the soil, leave it fo.'d, and, besides, 

 it is contravening one of the most salutary max- 

 ims of husbandry, to grow two dry croi)S in suc- 

 cession. It may follow clover ; Init if the soil is 

 heavy, the ley should be ploughed in autumn. — 

 Barley is successfully sown upon the fallows in 

 England, (not suminer, but autumn fallows,) and 

 is sown sometimes after wheat ; but in the latter 

 case turnips are pulled, and previously fed upon 

 the stubble ; a practice which I think is not likely 

 to obtain here. I have generally sown barley after 

 ruta baga or potatoes, these crops having received 

 a good dressing of long, yard or stable manure. 



Manure should not be applied to the barley, but 

 to the preceding crop. The short period that this 

 grain occupies the ground, does not alford time 

 for the manure to decompose and yield its food to 

 the plants ; and, if applied in excess, it causes a 

 too rank vegetation, and the straw lodges before 

 the grain is matured. Where a fallow or clover 

 ley is employed and ]>loughed in antiuim, dimg 

 may be previously em|)loyed and ploughed luider. 

 Preparation of the g-roiinrf. — Where barley fol- 

 lows a root or hoed crop, one ploughing will g<n- 

 erally suffice ; but in all cases, a complete pulver- 

 ization of the soil is necessary ; and to effect this 

 a roller is often of material benefit. If sown upon 

 grass leys, ploughed in autumn, the spring plough-, 

 jng should he shallow, so as to leave the sod re- 

 versed. But the preferable way may be to harrow 

 the fallow, plough in the seed with a light furrow, 

 and siuooth off with the harrow. 



The seed and sowing. — Loudon enumerates six 

 species and sub-species of the barley. The kinds 

 uniformly cultivated here arc the two, four aiul 

 six rowed s])i-ing, [hordeum rulgarc, and li. dis- 

 tickon.) Thin-skinued, pale, plump seed, should 

 be selected. I sow as soon as the ground is suf- 

 ficiently dry ill sjjriug. The young grain is not 

 hurt by the ordinary frosts of the latter part of 

 April and Alay. I sow from six to eight pecks per 

 ' acre, according to the richness of the soil and the 

 forwardness of the season ; the poorest ground and 

 the latest sowing requiring the most seed. In 

 England, the common quantity of seed is from 

 eight to sixteen ])ecks. Our climate being much 

 warmer than that of Great Britain, barley and 

 other grains till better with us, and consequently 

 we require less seed. We uniformly sow broad- 

 cast, generally on the fresh furrow, and harrow in 



the rate of twenty to thirty bushels the acre 



The crop admits of no after-culture when sown 

 broad-cast. Yet the application of the roller, when 

 the plants are two or three inches high, is no 

 doubt salutary, especially if there has been no con- 

 siderable rains. Rolling gives a salutary compres- 

 sion to the soil, which in the spring is apt to be 

 loose and porous, and full of cracks, by the alter- 

 nation of freezing and thawing, or of wet and dry 

 weather; it destroys many insects; and, above all, 

 it partially buries the ctowns of the plants, and 

 introduces a multiplication of seed stalks. I can 

 recommend the practice from experience. When 

 grass seeds are sown with barley, the luxuriance 

 of the young grass somelinies chokes the grain, 

 robs it of luitriment, and sensibly diminishes the 

 product. To obviate this evil, it has been recom- 

 mende<l to sow the grass seeds after the barley has 

 come up, and to cover them with a light barrow 

 and a rc?ier ; and it is said, and I think with truth, 

 that this operation will not materially injure the 

 grain. In dry seasons, the crop is sometimes at- 

 tacked by worms, while young. In this case, the 

 roller should be ajiplied and sufficient weight add- 

 ed, to require the draught of two or three cattle. 



Time and method of harvesting. — When flie soil 

 is rich and the season propitious, this grain is very 

 liable to lodge. If this hajipcns aftei; it has blos- 

 somed, no mateiial injury is sustained in the ])ro- 

 duct. If before, the cro]) is greatly diminished. 

 This shows the danger to be a|)prehended from 

 making the soil too rich, and of a|)plyiiig fresh 

 manure. Barley is known to be ripe by the dis- 

 appearance of the reddish cast on the ear, or what 

 the English farmers term red roan; by the ears 

 beginning to droop, and bend themselves round 

 against the stems; and by the stalks becoming 

 brittle, and of a yellowish color. This is the par- 

 ticular period for cutting, as, if suffered to stand 

 longer, the heads break off and the grain wastes 

 with the slightest touch. And it may be cut with 

 the cradle, sickle, or scythe, according to circum- 

 stances. If it stands straight and is not too heavy, 

 the cradle is to be preferred ; if heavy, or lodged, 

 the sickle or scythe. But, as the grain is yet soft 

 aiul the straw contains much moisture, when it 

 ought to be cut, it should be suffered to become 

 well dried in the swath before it is bound in 

 sheaves, or carried to the barn or stack. If cut 

 with the cradle or sickle, it is bound in sheaves ; 

 but the more common practice is to cut the crop 

 with the scythe, rake the ground, and load it with 

 the barley fork. 



Barley imjiroves for trialting by lying till Octo- 

 ber before it is threshed ; though it is often thresh- 

 ed immediately from the field. The great diffi- 

 culty in preparing it for market is to rid it of the 



awns. This may be done with flails, after it has 

 passed once through the fanning mill. And, 

 where it is in great quantities, it may be spread 

 from four to six inches upon the barn floor, and 

 trodden with horses. 



Produce and profts. — The average product in 

 England is slated by Donaldson at thirtytwo bush- 

 els per acre. The product in New York varies 

 from fifteen to seventy bushels, according to sea- • 

 son and soil ; and I think the average is somewhat 

 short of tluit of Great Britain. Compared with i 

 wheat, its product is as two or two and a half to 

 one ; corn|)ared with oats, about equal, provided 

 the soil is adapted to this grain. It is, however, 

 to be rejiiembered, that neither wheat nor oats'are 

 adapted to a barley soil ; the first requiring a more 

 slitt' and tenacious and the latter a more cold and 

 moist location. The average price of barley is at 

 least two thirds that of wheat — supposing wheat, 

 then, to be SI 12 the bushel, and the product fif- 

 teen bushels per acre ; aiul barley to be 75 cents, 

 and the product of an acre tliiity bushels, and the 

 expense of cultivation equal, the profits of the bar- 

 ley will be nearly as three to two, com]iured to 

 wheat. Barley, besides, is a less precaiioiis crop, 

 is subject to fewer diseases, and has fewer insect 

 enemies to encounter tlian wheat. 



A correspondent of the Bath Agricultural Soci- 

 ety writes — "The last spring being remarkably 

 dry,»l soaked my seed barley in the black water, 

 taken from a reservoir, which constantly receives 

 the draining of my dung heaj) and stables. As 

 the light grains floated on the top, I skimmed 

 them off, and let the rest stand twentyfour hours. 

 On taking it from the water, 1 mixed the grain 

 with a sufficient quantity of sifled wood ashes, to 

 make it spread regularly, and sowed three fields 

 with it. The produce was .sixty bushels per acre. 

 I sowed some other fields with the same seed dry, 

 but the crop, like those of my neighbors, was very 

 poor, not more than twenty bushels per acre, and 

 mixed with green corn and weeds when harvested. 

 I also sowed some of my seed dry on one ridge in 

 each of my fields, but the produce was very poor, 

 in comparison of the other parts of the field." 



From the Genesee Farmer. 



HOTBED. 



Mr Goodseli, — Most of our books direct these 

 beds to lie nuule from three to four feet high, to bo 

 composed of recent stable dung, of tanner's bark, 

 or oak leeves, with frequent linings to keep up the 

 heat, and to impregnate the blossoms by Ijand, &c. 



All this may be proper and necessary, where it 

 is the intention to force fruits or vegetables to per- 

 fection dining the winter months, but is attended 

 with more expense and trouble than our gardeners 

 and farm* rs are willing to bestow on the subject. 



A hot-bed, however, may be made eminently 

 useful in bringing forward many vegetables, at a 

 season much earlier than can be done in the open 

 air, and Avhen used as a seed bed only, is attend- 

 ed with comparatively little expense or trouble. 



I am therefore induced to send you a few direc- 

 tions for preparing and managing such a bed. 



About the 20th of March, get into your garden 

 of recent stable manure a sufficient quantity to form 

 the hot-bed ; select a spot for your bed open to tha 

 sun, set four sticks twenty inches above ground, 

 four feet three inches each way in a square form. 

 Begin to lay on the dung with a fork on the top of 



