BARLEV 



tiller* 30 much, that half a bushel may 

 be saved per acre in the seed. This 

 is probably owing to its grains being 

 all perfect, and vegetating rapidly. 

 The straw, like that of the other long- 

 eared barleys, appears weak in pro- 

 portion to the ear ; it is said also to 

 be harder, and not so palatable to cat- 

 tle. These are circumstances which 

 experience alone can ascertain. That 

 hitherto it has had a decided superi- 

 ority over the common sorts, no one 

 who has tried it fairly in well-pre- 

 pared land seems to deny ; but un- 

 less great care be taken in cultiva- 

 ting picked parcels for seed, selecting 

 the finest ears and plumpest grain, it 

 will probably share the fate of its pred- 

 ecessors — degenerate, and lose its 

 reputation. Might not the cultivation 

 of the various kinds of grain purpose- 

 ly for seed be more generally prac- 

 tised, and form a distinct branch of 

 agriculture ? Thus the good qualities 

 of any grain might be perpetuated, 

 new varieties might be produced, and 

 the defects corrected by cultivation, 

 as is the case with horticultural 

 plants. 



The sprat or battledore barley (F?>. 

 4), also called Putney barley, from 

 having been once extensively cul- 

 tivated near that place, is in much 

 esteem in Germany. It is the Hor- 

 dciim Zcocriton ; also called German 

 rice, or rice harley, not from any re- 

 semblance it bears to rice, but be- 

 cause, when deprived of its skin and 

 made into pot harley, it swells by 

 boiling, and makes a good substitute 

 for rice in broths and puddings. 



All kinds of barley require nearly 

 the same soil, and, whether they are 

 sown before winter or in spring, the 

 ground must be well prepared, and 

 the soil pulverized by repeated plough- 

 ings and harrowings, or by the opera- 

 tion of those instruments which have 

 been invented for this especial pur- 

 pose, in order that the fibres of the 

 roots, which are very minute and del- 

 icate, may penetrate the soil easily in 

 search of nourishment. 



* A plant IS said to tiller when it produces 

 several stems from the crown of the root at the 

 lurface of the aoil. 



F 



Fig. i. 



[Sprat (or Battledore) Barley. 1 



The soil can scarcely be too dry 

 on the surface at the time of sowing ; 

 and, provided a few showers supply 

 the moisture necessary to make the 

 seed vegetate and spring up, there is 

 DO great danger to be apprehended 

 from too dry weather. Barley has 

 been known to grow and ripen when 

 not a single shower refreshed the soil 

 from the day it was sown to that in 

 which it was reaped. 



The quantity of barley sown for- 

 merly was four bushels per acre ; 

 but if the land is duly prepared and 

 the seed good, from two to three 

 bushels are an ample allowance, espe- 

 cially if sown by the drilling machine. 



The proper time for sowing barley 

 depends much on the season and the 



61 



