252 DRY LAND FARMING 



is the blue or purple hulless, which weighs very heavily. 

 Valuable brewing barleys that retain their hulls are 

 frequently grown with much success in the semi-arid 

 west. The barleys most generally grown are those that 

 are beardless and also hulless. The white hulless is a 

 favorite variety. One objection to these barleys is that 

 they are carried on weak straw, and a further objection 

 is that they are too hard for most kinds of feeding, in 

 the unprepared form. Nevertheless they are the most 

 popular of the dry farm feeding barleys, more especially 

 those of them that are six-rowed. More commonly bar- 

 ley is white, but blue and black and various shades are 

 by no means uncommon. 



Barley should, as a rule, be sown early, but not quite 

 so early as wheat under all conditions of growth. Though 

 not so rugged as wheat, nevertheless it will stand freez- 

 ing that is somewhat severe without serious injury. 

 Far .north, in dry areas, it is not usually sown before 

 May 1st. Far south in the same, it may be sown nearly 

 two months earlier. It may be grown on higher eleva- 

 tions than almost any other grain, because of the short 

 period called for in order to mature it, but when grown 

 in such areas the sowing must be late. 



This crop is almost invariably sown with the grain 

 drill. The advantages from sowing it thus are similar 

 to those which follow sowing wheat in the same way 

 (see p. 173). The same is true of it whether sown alone 

 or in combination with some other grain. Barley should 

 not be sown quite as deeply as wheat, but the difference 

 is not marked. From 2 to 3 inches should be the rule, 

 with variations to suit the needs of the soil and the 

 depth of the moisture at the time for sowing. 



The amount of seed to sow will vary from, say, 3 

 to 5 pecks under the varying conditions met with in the 

 dry country. From 3 to 4 pecks per acre will meet the 

 needs of nearly all the varying soil conditions where the 



