ECONOMIC PLANTS 207 



The average yield for the United States is between 

 30 and 35 bushels to the acre, but under ordinary 

 conditions a yield of anything less than 40 bushels to 

 the acre should be considered poor. 



The United States exported seven times as many 

 bushels of oats in 1901 as 1905, yet the yield in the 

 latter year was 200,000,000 bushels greater than in the 

 former. These figures show that home consumption 

 of this grain is increasing, either as food for horses or 

 for man in the form of oatmeal, rolled oats, and other 

 oat breakfast foods. 



Barley. --This grain is of much less general im- 

 portance than the three preceding. It is grown almost 

 entirely to make malt for the brewing of beer, although 

 it has an increasing use as food for stock. In the past 

 ten years there has been in the United States an increase 

 of 1,000,000 acres devoted to barley raising, with an 

 increased yield of 30,000,000 bushels. 



The classification of barleys is based upon the number 

 of rows on the head, two, four, or six. Barley grown 

 for the brewers in Europe is usually of the two-rowed 

 variety, a slow ripener. In the United States the six- 

 row variety is generally grown both for brewing and 

 for feeding purposes. 



Hull-less barley is grown for feeding purposes, but 

 does not usually yield as much as the other varieties. 



Barley has the shortest straw of the small grains. 

 The heads are usually armed with long, strong, spread- 

 ing beards that grow from the tips of the glumes. 

 These beards make the handling of the straw uncom- 

 fortable, and when eaten by cattle or horses they stick 

 into the gums, causing considerable distress. 



The hull of the barley grows tight to the kernel, 



