120 BARLEY 



modern times, wheat has become the most important 

 bread-making cereal, and barley is but little used for 

 human food. About the only form in which barley is 

 now used as human food is the pearl barley used in 

 soups. This is made by taking the hulls off the ker- 

 nels with special machines. The principal uses of 

 barley are as food for stock and as malt for beer. As 

 a stock food, barley is very nutritious and is almost 

 equal to corn. It may be fed whole or ground into 

 meal. The hull-less barley is so hard that it must be 

 ground or soaked before it is fed. 



Malt. In making beer the barley is malted by 

 germinating the grains. In the sprouting grains the 

 starch is changed to sugar, which is then dissolved out 

 of the grain by soaking in water. After the sugar has 

 been dissolved, the sprouted barley grains, called malt 

 sprouts, are sold for stock food. 



QUESTIONS 



1. What are the most important uses of barley ? 



2. What are the leading barley states of the United States? 



3. Is barley adapted to a narrow or wide range of climate ? 



4. What are the leading barley countries of the world ? (See 

 Yearbook of Agriculture.) 



PRACTICAL EXERCISES 



i. Plant grains of barley and make a study of the young 

 plants, similar to the study of wheat and of oats. How many 

 temporary roots do you find ? Usually barley has five tempo- 



