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those now in cultivation here, being, under proper management, more 

 productive than most others ; the grain is considerably heavier than 

 that of the common sort, in the proportion of 57 lbs. to 52 lbs. per 

 bushel, and at the same time the ears are usually much longer, (in a 

 specimen now before me, there are twenty perfect seeds on one side of 

 the spike, and twenty-two on the opposite). These advantages are, 

 however, counter-balanced by the general thinness of the straw, and 

 its harsh and rigid texture, the first rendering it liable to be borne 

 down by the weight of the ear during high winds or heavy rain, while 

 the second interferes with its adaptation as food for cattle. 



The use of barley was formerly far more general among European 

 nations than it is at present, and will probably farther decline as the 

 improvement of agriculture extends, in those countries at least which 

 admit of the cultivation of wheat. In Britain its most important use 

 has been for a long period in the manufacture of malt, a purpose for 

 which it is better fitted than any other kind of European grain, on 

 account of the large proportion of sugar contained in the seed. In 

 foodful quality barley is far superior to oats ; the better kinds of this 

 grain yielding according to chemists 920 parts in the 1000 of nutritive 

 matter, 70 of which are sugar. It would not appear, however, that the 

 presence of this quantity of sugar is the only recommendation of barley 

 for the use of the maltster, though the value of his manufacture to the 

 brewer and distiller is mainly dependent upon the proportion of that 

 product. In addition to its sugar, the average quantity of starch in 

 this grain is nearly equivalent to that of wheat ; and in the process of 

 malting a considerable portion of the latter becomes converted into the 

 former. 



Barley is more used in this country in the form of pot and pearl- 

 barleys than in the state of meal or flour, the labouring classes of the 

 North of England and Scotland generally evincing a preference for the 

 oat as bread. Pot-barley or Scotch-barley, used in broths and soups, 

 is the grain simply freed from the husk, in nulls constructed for the 

 purpose ; in pearl-barley the grinding process is carried a little farther, 

 so as to remove the extremities of the seed, and render it nearly round. 

 The object in pearling barley is the removal, not only of the skin but 

 of the embryo or young plant at the base of the seed, in both of which 

 there is a peculiar flavour, dependent on the presence of an essential 

 oil, disagreeable to most persons accustomed to the use of other grain. 

 The prepared or patent-barley, employed for making barley-water and 

 other beverages for the sick, consists of this pearl-barley ground to 

 powder in a common mill ; it is a more useful form for this purpose as 

 being more quickly converted into the necessary drink. A decoction 

 of the entire grain is somewhat acrid and bitter in taste, and liable to 

 disagree with the stomach. 



The English name of this corn seems to have been derived from the 

 Celtic hara, bread, and that of the barley itself in the same language, 

 here, pronounced broadly hare, among some existing peoples of that 

 race, indicates the early cultivation of it in Europe. Our word heer is 

 only a slight alteration from the latter, as being the source of the 

 beverage so denominated. 



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