MODES OF CULTIVATING BARLEY. 199 



gives some most excellent remarks upon the modes prac- 

 tised in various districts. In several of the midland counties 

 there are fine deep loams upon gravel, and also upon clay, 

 which produce a " very bold heavy barley," but which, 

 however, does not take the first place in the London mar- 

 kets for malting purposes. On such districts, and with 

 this soil termed turnip and barley soil the barley is 

 usually taken after the turnips, the turnip crop being pre- 

 viously fed off either wholly or partially by sheep. It is 

 on such soils that the truth of the adage, " Sheep have 

 golden feet," is so well exemplified. The land, firmly con- 

 solidated by the treading of the sheep, and well manured 

 by them, is broken up by the plough in the autumn or 

 winter months, and allowed to remain exposed to the ame- 

 liorating influences of the atmosphere till seed-time. The 

 land and this by the practicians of some districts is worthy 

 of notice is not again ploughed in spring, but simply 

 scarified, or grubbed, and well harrowed. The seed is then 

 deposited generally by the drill, but sometimes it is broad- 

 casted. A good deal has been said upon the comparative 

 advantages of these two modes of sowing, but while there 

 are benefits to be derived from the dispersing of the seed 

 over the ground for the more this is done the better 

 still the fact that the depth is unequal operates most pre- 

 judicially against the broadcasting system, for the growth 

 is most unequal, some of the grains having a start long 

 before others, so that the quality of the sample at harvest- 

 ing is most unequal also, and the trouble involved in cut- 

 ting very considerable. JSTow, by using the drill, we can 

 secure uniformity in the depth at which we deposit the 

 seed, and, what is of immense importance in a crop where 

 uniformity in the quality of the sample is so important, we 

 can also secure uniformity of growth and of ripening. In 

 the midland districts which we are now considering, the 

 sowing season varies, according to circumstances, from the 

 middle of March to the end of April, the seeds sown be- 

 longing to the varieties known as Chevalier, Nottingham, 

 Long Ear, and the old Common barley. Of these the Che- 



