BARLEY 



349 



six to eight inches long with barbed edges. At maturity, 



the flowering glume and palea usually adhere tightly to the 

 kernel and are removed with diffi- 

 culty. Therefore, the barley grain, 

 like the oat grain, consists of the ker- 

 nel, the palea and the flowering glume. 

 These two latter parts are called 

 the hull or husk. The barley kernel 

 resembles very closely the wheat grain. 

 The legal weight of a bushel of 

 barley grain is 

 48 pounds. The 

 actual weight 

 may vary from 

 45 to 50 pounds. 

 431. Composition. Barley is 



recognized as a nutritious grain. It 



is more carbonaceous than either 



wheat or oats. Hulled barley is 



very similar in composition to 



wheat. Ordinarily barley grain is 



higher than wheat in crude fiber on 



account of the hull. Unlike oats, 



the hull of barley is so tough that 



it is necessary to grind the grain 



before feeding it to domestic animals. The composition 



of barley and its by-products as given in Henry's " Feeds 



and Feeding" is as follows: 



FIG. 58. A grain of 

 2-rowed barley; A, 

 dorsal view; B, ven- 

 tral view. 



FIG. 59. High grade bar- 

 ley grains with the 

 glumes removed to show 

 the embryo with its 

 collar-like scutellum (s). 

 The inner envelopes 

 have been removed from 

 the upper part of the 

 grains. 



