AGRICULTURAL INDUSTRIES 139 



as the argonauts came in quantity, barley ran out 

 of supply and importations were made from every- 

 where. There were 294,000 sacks of barley imported 

 at San Francisco in 1853, which gave quick impulse 

 to local production. It came from the four quarters 

 of the globe and they all had six-rowed varieties 

 grown chiefly for grinding. Some of these perhaps 

 brought the six-rowed which became the common bar- 

 ley of California. 



For many years California brewers endeavored to 

 popularize some of the two-rowed kinds which were 

 relied on by European maltsters, but the result was a 

 winning fight for the six-rowed. The grower's idea 

 that it is better to have six rows of grain on the head 

 than two is reasonable not only on the ground that 

 conditions of soil and climate favor a six-rowed va- 

 riety and give greater weight of produce, but this 

 greater vigor in the plant itself enables it to develop 

 a six-rowed head producing a kernel which carries 

 amplitude of starch, gives a strong sprout in malt- 

 ing and a low albumenoid content which best serve 

 a brewer's purposes. The outcome of the whole mat- 

 ter is that although many varieties from all parts of 

 the world have been tried and some have achieved 

 local popularity, nothing has been found fit to dis- 

 place the "common California barley" which has 

 been chiefly grown from the beginning, although re- 

 cently the University of California Experiment Sta- 

 tion has demonstrated adaptation to special condi- 

 tions in several varieties which are becoming popular. 



It is an interesting fact that the pioneer barley- 



