IN EXTKA-TBOPICAL COUNTHIES. 151 



Famed as the best fattening grass of many of the somewhat 

 brackish marsh pastm-es on the North Sea. It never ilruits 

 when kept down by cattle, and suppresses finally ne^ly all 

 other grasses and weeds. 



Hordeiun vulgare, Linne.* 



Orient. The four-rowed Barley, though rather six-rowed 

 with two prominent rows. Several varieties occur, among 

 them : the Spring, Winter, and Black Barley, the Russian, 

 the French, the Naked, and the Wheat Barley. Pearl Barley 

 is obtained from the winter variety, which also surpasses 

 Summer Barley in rigour of stems and rich and early yield, 

 it being the earliest cereal in the season ; the straw is copious 

 and nutritious, and the grain is rich in gluten, hence far bet- 

 ter adapted for flour than for malt. Summer Barley also 

 passes under the name of Sand Barley ; it is inferior in yield 

 to H. distichon, but is content with a less fertile, even sandy 

 soil, and comes in a month's less time to ripeness. In Alpine 

 regions it ripens with a summer of sixty or seventy days 

 without frost. The Naked Barley is superior to many other 

 varieties for peeled barley, but inferior for brewing ; the grain 

 is also apt to drop (Langethal). Malt is important as an 

 antiscorbutic remedy. Chemical principles of malt : aspara- 

 gin ; a protein substance ; diastase ; an acid and cholesterin 

 fat. 



Hordeum zeocriton, Linnd* 



Central Asia.- Also a two-rowed Barley. To this species 

 belong the Sprat, the Battledore, the Pulham, and the Putney 

 Barley, the Eice Barley, the Turkish Barley, and the Dinkel. 

 This species might be regarded as a variety of H. distichon. 

 The grains do not drop spontaneously, and this variety is 

 securer than others against sparrows; requires, however, a 

 superior soil, and is harder in straw (Langethal). 



Hovenia dulcis, Thunberg. 



Himalaya, China, Japan. The pulpy fruit-stalks of this tree 

 are edible. H. insequalis, DC, and H. acerba, Lindl., are 

 mere varieties of this species. 



Humulus Lupulus, Linne.* 



The Hop Plant. Temperate zone of Europe, Asia, and North 

 America. This twining perennial unisexual plant has proved 

 to yield enormously on river banks in rich soil or on fertile 

 slopes where irrigation could be effected, particularly go in 



