76 



SOUTHERN FIELD CROPS 



a form of naked barley in which the hulls do not adhere 

 to the kernels; unfortunately, the yield of this kind is 

 small. 



Beardless barley has excited some interest. Its chief ad- 

 vantage is its earliness and the absence of beards (Fig. 29). 

 Its disadvantages are small yield of grain, 

 weak straw, small niunber of stems produced, 

 and extreme tenderness, or susceptibility to 

 winter-killing. Even in the central part of 

 the Gulf States this variety requires sowing 

 after Christmas. It is the earliest of any of 

 the small grains tested at the Alabama Ex- 

 periment Station, but is scarcely practicable 

 except on a small scale and on rich land. 



78. Soils and fertilizers. — Barley requires 

 a richer soil than any of the other small 

 grains. It prefers a limestone soil, and on 

 acid lands the use of lime is usually advan- 

 tageous. The fertilizer should be either 

 stable manure or a mixture of commercial 

 fertilizers containing nitrogen, 

 phosphoric acid, and potash. 



79. Sowing. — In the central 

 part of the cotton-belt, barley 

 may be sown at any date between 

 September 1 and December 1. 

 For sowing broadcast - to afford 

 pasturage it is advisable to use 

 2\ bushels of seed per acne. For 

 grain production, or for sowing in drills as a soiling crop, 

 1^ to 2 bushels per acre is sufficient. 



Fig. 29. — Head and Spike- 

 let OF Beabdless Barley. 



