128 OUR FARM CROPS. 



adds nothing practically to the cost ; with the ordinary 

 machine, or where the flail is used, the grain has to un- 

 dergo an after process, which, of course, entails an addi- 

 tional expense. 



Under ordinary circumstances the relative weights ot 

 the grain and the straw, in a barley crop, are about the 

 same; therefore, a yield of 6 quarters to the acre (54 Ibs. 

 per bushel) would give a gross weight of grain and straw 

 of about 2i tons per acre. In the stack the cubical 

 Contents being calculated in the usual way for the measure- 

 ment of solid bodies the quantity of grain may be esti- 

 mated as follows : l 



In a crop where the proportion of grain is 



Small, it will require 27* cubic feet to yield 1 bushel. 



An average, 21'5 



Large, 18' 



The diseases and insect ravages to which barley is liable 

 are, so far as our observations go, very few compared with 

 wheat. Amongst the former the " smut" (Uredo segetum), 

 is the only one which appears to be injurious to it to any 

 noticeable extent. This in some seasons (184*6, for instance) 

 and on some soils, prevails more than in others. Mr. Berke- 

 ley also remarks that in 1844 the late-sown barley exhibited 

 at harvest time indications, though not to any prejudicial 

 extent, of having been attacked by " mildew/' " Ergot," 

 too, has been occasionally noticed in barley grains; and 

 when the plant has been destroyed or seriously injured by 

 drought, insects, or other causes, the stems and ears are 

 frequently blackened by the Klobdosporium herbarum. 

 This fungus, however, as has been before observed (p. 

 70), is the consequence and not the cause of disease. 

 Amongst the latter a wire worm (Elater obscurus)* is fre- 

 quently very destructive in dry seasons and on cold soils ; 



1 Ewart's Agriculturist's Assistant, p. 102. 



2 See Curtis' Insects Injurious to Farm Crops, p. 191. 



