138 



support to this belief, yet careful investigation^ shows that the relationship 

 existing between the per cent protein and degree of mealiness is not so 

 intimate as many have thought. This is quite clearly shown by Tedin in 

 the following table (68, p. 229) : 



The 



measure of 

 quality in 

 barley. 



Investigations seem to indicate further that the degree of mealiness or 

 starchiness is dependent to a certain extent upon weather conditions. Thus 

 a flinty kernel under certain conditions of moisture either before or after 

 harvest can be changed to one which appears quite starchy. For this reason 

 it is claimed that the degree of mealiness if taken into account at all, should 

 be noted only after the kernel has been soaked in water. 



The measure of quality in the barley kernel most commonly used is the 

 absolute weight (weight per 1.000 kernels) and the volume weight (weight per 

 hectolitre). The absolute weight is important in judging different lots of 

 the same sort, but signifies little in judging different sorts, as a large kernelled 

 sort, and therefore a heavier sort per 1,000 kernels, need not necessarily be of 

 more value or of even better quality than a smaller grained sort. What 

 might give the larger kernelled sort greater value is the smaller per cent 

 scale and the correspondingly larger per cent kernel. In this case fewer 

 kernels are required to give the same weight. The shape of kernel can 

 also influence quality in that those which are thicker and shorter have 

 more kernel in proportion to scale than have those which are longer and 

 thinner. It is important in any case that no sort falls below a certain 

 standard. Little variation in weight per 1,000 kernels in the same sort from 

 year to year is regarded as suggestive of the power of the sort to adapt itself 

 to different conditions as it is well known that different conditions of season 

 exert an important influence on weight. 



Interesting data have been compiled by Tedin (70) showing the weight 

 per 1,000 kernels of different sorts for different years at Svalof and at Ultuna. 

 An examination of the table comparing the average weights per 1,000 kernels 

 of the different sorts at these places shows that without exception, this weight 

 is greater at the Northern Station than in the South. 



The weight per bushel is not considered so important as is the weight 

 per 1,000 kernels as this weight depends largely upon the shape of the kernel 



