DISTINCTIONS IN CULTIVATED BAELEYS. 33 



impossible, because a cross between a form with a melaninlike pig- 

 ment and one with no pigment could not result in one characterized 

 by the production of anthocyanin. The widespread opinion of va- 

 riability is possibly due to faulty observation. The deposit is in the 

 aleurone layer, and the color is sometimes obscured by the glume. 

 The weathering of this organ, especially in humid areas, greatly les- 

 sens its transparency. The aleurone layer is covered by both peri- 

 carp and hulls. The color must not only be pronounced to enable 

 one to detect it from without, but the coverings must also be passably 

 transparent. When ripening occurs in rainy weather this is not the 

 case, and the hulls must be removed in order to make a trustworthy 

 determination. Maltsters often speak of the blue grains that appear 

 after steeping — that is, when the coverings have become trans- 

 parent. 



There is undoubtedly a difference in the quantity of the pigment 

 deposited from year to year. Part of this may be due to the condi- 

 tions of growth and part to the conditions of ripening. This pig- 

 ment, like melanin, is formed during the later stages of growth. It 

 may be that an abbreviation of the ripening period, due to heat or 

 drought, would result in a reduction of pigment. 



The inheritance of this character has been tested by- observations 

 upon several strains isolated from various barleys. These have been 

 grown for several years and at a number of places, and in every in- 

 stance the aleurone layer has retained a decided amount of blue 

 color. The black colors have become more nearly brown in some 

 places but have never disappeared. Blue-gray and violet-purple 

 colors in naked barleys are due to blue anthocyanin in the aleurone 

 layer combined with a pigment-free pericarp in the blue-gray and 

 with a red anthocyanin deposit in the violet. Both are unquestion- 

 ably inherited. 



Minor phases of anthocyanin formation are found in the foliage 

 of the plant, in the, nerves of the glume, and in the awn. A red 

 foliage, although found more commonly in some forms than others, 

 may ordinarily be disregarded. In most cases it indicates malnutri- 

 tion of some sort. In the nerves of the dorsal flowering glume it may 

 be more valuable as a distinction. A great many barleys show this 

 character to some extent. Even the Hanna races possess violet or 

 purple nerves just before ripening. None, however, develop the 

 color to the degree that is attained by some of the Russian and Asi- 

 atic forms. In the barley nursery there are several Russian selec- 

 tions in which the stripes along the nerves are so broad that the 

 grains are almost red. The same is true of the -strain known as 

 Kashgar, which was imported from the region of that name in India. 



With reference to the color of the awn, an apparent anomaly was 

 noted in 1911. In a certain selection some spikes were observed in 



