130 The Rothamsted Barley Experiments. 



There exists a popular notion that strength of straw is 

 dependent on a high percentage of silica, but direct analytical 

 results clearly show that the proportion of silica is, as a rale, 

 lower, not higher in the straw of the better- grown and better- 

 ripened crops a result quite inconsistent with the usually 

 accepted view that high quality and stiffness of straw depend 

 on a high amount of silica. In fact, high proportion of 

 silica means a relatively low proportion of organic substance 

 produced. Nor can there be any doubt that strength of 

 straw depends on the favourable development of the woody 

 substance ; and the more this is attained the more will the 

 accumulated silica be, so to speak, diluted in other words, 

 show a lower proportion to the organic substance. A large 

 proportion of brittle straw which breaks in plaiting has been 

 characteristic of recent seasons of bad harvest, and these 

 qualities are associated with low development of the woody 

 matter, and high proportion of silica. 



THE HOME PKODUCE AND THE IMPORTS OF 

 BAELEY. 



It is desirable now to inquire into such economic questions 

 as refer to the extent of the area devoted to the growth of 

 barley in the United Kingdom, the amount of our total 

 annual imports, and from what countries these latter are 

 chiefly derived. Table XXVII. shows the area under barley 

 in the United Kingdom in each of the years 1873 to 1887, 

 and also the total imports into the United Kingdom during 

 the year succeeding each of the first fourteen of the fifteen 

 harvests, reckoning from Sept. 1 to Aug. 31 in each case. 



It is seen that since 1880, when the repeal of the malt tax 

 took place, there has been, instead of an increase, a dimi- 

 nution in the home area under barley, accompanied by an 

 increase in the imports. It would seem that the high duty 

 served as a bounty on the higher qualities of the home growth, 



