MORPHOLOGY OF THE BARLEY GRAIN. 23 
plished without great loss. That is, the more nearly a grain ap- 
proaches a sphere in shape, the less need be the loss in malting; and 
the greater the ratio of the longer axis of the grain to the shorter the 
more difficult becomes the malting. In extreme types, such as the 
Chinese barley shown in figure 5, efficient malting is impossible. If 
the process is stopped in a reasonable time, there remains an unaffected 
portion at the distal extremity, whereas if germination is continued 
until this portion becomes softened, the entire proximal end will have 
been utilized by the plant. The 2-rowed barleys from Smyrna are 
less marked examples of the same defect. They are almost ideal in 
character, considered 
from the standpoint of 
high extract alone, ex- 
cept for their unfortu- 
nately long grain. The 
shape of the grain makes 
this barley difficult to 
malt, and the extract is 
probably measurably 
less than would be the 
case if the same seed 
contents were differently 
arranged. Barleys with 
long grains and with 
pointed ends are to be 
avoided for malting pur- 
poses, if yield of extract 
be even of secondary 
interest. 
The amount of diastase 
present in any type of 
barley must depend upon 
the area and vigor of the  F!G- 5.—Two grains of a Chinese barley, a spindle-shaped grain 
: 6 very difficult to malt. 
secreting surface. If the ; 
secreting surface be large, enzymatic action should be ample. As 
previously pointed out, the proportion of the secreting surface must, 
by the laws of geometry, increase as the size of the berry decreases. 
Thus, in small-berried barleys the diastatic power will be high, regard- 
less of the nature of its endosperm. If, in addition, the endosperm be 
dwarfed by a lack of normal starch infiltration, resulting in a high- 
nitrogen grain even for its class, the excess of diastase becomes still 
greater and results in a malt adapted to the use of distillers. The 
question of increasing this function in such barleys thus seems super- 
fluous. Nevertheless, as will be shown later, even in the case of the 
