CHAPTER XVI. 



BARLEY AND RYE 



History. — Hordeum spontaneum, a wild form, occurs in 

 Asia and is supposed to be the progenitor of our two-rowed 

 forms. A six-rowed wild form is supposed to have existed, 

 since the oldest records of barley describe it as six-rowed. 

 Specimens of grain taken from Egyptian tombs, estimated to 

 be 3,000 years old, are in the British Museum ; representations 

 of barley ears are also found in these tombs. As human food, 

 it was gradually replaced by wheat and rye. 



Production. The world's continental production for the 

 period 1912-14 is given below : — 



Europe 



North America 



Asia 



Africa 



Australia 



1912 to 1914. 



1,067,210,000 bushels. 



250,121,333 ,, 



115,816,000 ,, 



45,443,666 ,, 



4,715,333 ,, 



The following table gives the leading countries for 1012-14 

 and their average annual production per acre for the period 

 1904-1913 :— 



Average Yield 

 per acre. 



United States of America 



Russia 



Germany 



Austria-Hungary 



Japan 



198,988,666 Bushels. 

 471,177,666 Bushels. 

 162,877,666 Bushels. 

 152,936,000 Bushels. 

 98.264,333 Bushels. 



25 1 Bushels. 

 15-3 Bushels. 

 36-8 Bushels. 

 25- Bushels. 

 30- Bushels. 



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