THE BARLEY CROP. 109 



The oolitic range exhibits a like difference of surface 

 soils ; most of them are well suited for barley, while two 

 prominent members of the group the Oxford clay and 

 the lias occupy extensive areas on which its cultivation 

 is rarely attempted. Below these formations the sand- 

 stones predominate, and no beds of clay of any conse- 

 quence are met with; they are represented by thin shales 

 which readily disintegrate, mix with the sandstones, and 

 form soils more or less suitable for barley, according to 

 the relative proportions in which they have been origi- 

 nally mixed. A glance at a geological map will readily 

 show the very large portion of the country occupied by 

 these several formations; and assuming that we have 

 everywhere, save in some of the higher districts of the 

 north, a mean summer temperature of 49, we can easily 

 estimate the extent of our barley-growing soils. Agricul- 

 turally speaking, their range is from the lightest gravels 

 up to the medium loams ; beyond a medium loam the pro- 

 portion of clay renders the soil unfit for the cultivation 

 of barley. The quality of the soil generally exhibits a 

 greater effect upon barley than upon the other cereals 

 the loams or stronger soils showing their superior fertility 

 by their increased produce, while the chalks and lighter 

 soils produce grain of superior quality. The strong loams 

 and clays are very rarely adapted for barley, owing to the 

 difficulty of getting a sufficiently fine tilth for the seed 

 at the proper time for sowing; and even if this be secured, 

 the produce, though in some cases large, is of a coarse 

 quality, and never fetches a satisfactory price in the 

 markets. These soils are essentially wheat soils, and 

 either in wheat or oats give a far better return than if 

 sown down with barley. 



The recommendations given for the mechanical pre- 

 paration of the land for wheat (p. 37), are equally ap- 

 plicable to barley, and, indeed, to all other crops that 



8 



