Retrospective Criticism. 673 



decidedly superior to the covered barley with respect to the quality of the 

 grain ; an equal measure weighs about a fifth more. The absence of skin 

 must render the meal sweeter and better ; in short, every body agrees in 

 praising them, and yet they have never been brought into general cultivation. 

 I speak at least of France ; two species, the large with two rows, and the 

 small, or celestial barley (orge celeste), have for a long time been tried and 

 recommended, and I know of no locality where they have become market 

 grain. To what must this be attributed ? Is it only to the force of habit, and 

 to the difficulty which, often without any other reason, new things find in 

 obtaining a place beside the old, or have these sorts of naked barley any 

 obvious defect which may have prevented their adoption ? I am incHned to 

 believe that both causes have had their effect here ; but I cannot decidedly 

 settle the question. Though 1 sow every year a certain extent of these 

 species for the commercial collection of the house, I have never compared 

 them sufficiently exactly with the common barley, to judge with certainty of 

 their respective merit. These crops have, however, furnished me with some 

 ideas, which I now communicate to you. 



The large naked barley, or naked two-rowed barley (orge nue distique), 

 (that to which the article in the Gard. Mag. refers), is the largest in the 

 grain of the naked sorts ; the ear is fine, long, and well filled ; it is the earliest 

 sort of barley, and perhaps of all grain. Opposed to . these qualities it has 

 some defects : the straw, scarcely so high as that of the common barley, is 

 less strong in the stalk ; it is subject to fall over, and to shed its seed, and to 

 become entangled, which renders mowing very inconvenient, and causes loss. 

 But the greatest disadvantage consists in the difficulty of thrashing ; the grain 

 adheres so strongly to the axis that it can only be separated by the strokes of 

 the flail ; and the straw after this operation is broken and good for little. An 

 eminent agriculturist, the late Marquis of Barban^ois, author of a small vo- 

 lume full of good observations, says that he has rejected this naked barley on 

 account of this defect, notwithstanding its other advantages. In the part of 

 Berry where he resided (the neighbourhood of Buzanfais), barley straw is 

 considered the best of all for horses, and reserved for their fodder. This was 

 certainly a great disadvantage in the naked barley ; in richer districts, where 

 this straw is in less estimation, the detriment may not be so great. 



The small species, or orge celeste, is also difficult to thrash, but less so 

 than the preceding ; the grain is smaller, fairer, and more delicate. It sends 

 up many shoots ; the straw is higher than that of common barley, larger, and 

 firmer in the ground. From these qualities it seems to be superior to the 

 preceding species, but it is more tenacious of the quality of the soil. In a 

 middling soil, part of the ear cannot escape from the sheath, and is abortive. 

 It has besides the defect of reproducing for a long time successive shoots, so 

 that there are some quite young and herbaceous at the root when the first 

 stalks are ripe. Notwithstanding this, good crops have been obtained, and I 

 think on the whole it is a good grain. About twenty-five years ago this spe- 

 cies was very much increased and noticed, in Belgium, under the names of 

 Ble de Mai, Ble d'Egypte, and Ble de Cent Jours. The cultivation of it was 

 then encouraged by the government ; I do not know if it has kept its ground 

 since. 



I have also tried the barley of Nepal, or trifurcate barley, in the fields for 

 some years, so remarkable for its singular ears without beards. The stalks 

 are extremely thick, the leaves very broad. The grain is shorter, and not 

 so fine as that of the two preceding species. In 1838 it yielded a produce 

 equal in weight to that of common barley. I do not yet know what to think 

 of it. I understand from Mr. Lawson, that in Scotland they were tolerably 

 well pleased with it. 



I shall conclude by enumerating the diiferent species and varieties with 

 naked grains which we now possess : — 



1. The large naked barley (^ordeum dlstichum nudum). 



2, The small, or celestial, barley (^H. vulgare nudum ; //. coeMste Linn.) 



