VARIETIES OF BARLEY 213 



are of a grayish-green color. The head is similar to that of 

 wheat, consisting of a spike with spikelets arranged along a 

 central stem or rachis. The spikelets are arranged in groups 

 of three alternately at the joints of the rachis, making six 

 rows of grain from the top to the bottom of the spike. The 

 two-rowed appearance of some varieties of barley is due to 

 the fact that only the central one of the three flowers on the 

 spikelet is fertile and produces grain. Many of the varieties 

 are bearded or awned; in some, the beard is replaced by a 

 three-forked appendage or hood. The grain is usually 

 enclosed within the flowering glume or hull, though some 

 Varieties thrash clean like wheat. 



258. Classification. Varieties of barley may be divided 

 into classes along several lines. The first general division 

 into two-rowed and six-rowed forms is based on the fertility 

 or infertility of the lateral spikelets, as stated in the preceding 

 paragraph. Six-rowed barley is of two general forms, the 

 round and the square, of which the square type is the more 

 common. The former is the type usually known as six- 

 rowed, while the square type is often spoken of as four- 

 rowed. The four-rowed appearance is due to a twisting of 

 the lateral spikelets, so that the grain at the left of one 

 spikelet is in line with that on the right of the opposite one, 

 the two rows appearing as one. Two types of two-rowed 

 barley are also grown, one with a short, broad head and the 

 other with a long, slender one; the latter is the common 

 form. Another division may be made on the presence or 

 absence of awns or beards, the classes then being known as 

 bearded and hooded, or beardless. Still other classes are 

 the common or hulled and the hull-less, the division being 

 made according to the manner in which the grain thrashes 

 from the head. 



