FOUR-ROWED BARLEY 503 



sides of the rachis, but the lateral spikelets of each triplet which 

 in the six-rowed race form four straight single regular rows, in 

 this race form two irregular double rows, hence the whole ear 

 appears irregularly four-rowed, especially in its upper part. 



Bere, of which there are one or two improved varieties, 

 has erect ears about 2^ inches long, and usually contains from 

 forty to fifty grains in each. The grains are thinner and longer 

 than those of the two-rowed race, and the awns are stiff and 

 adhere so firmly to the flowering glume that they are difficult 

 to remove when thrashed. 



Bere is mostly grown in the northern parts of this country as 

 a spring-sown crop, and used as food for stock and the pro- 

 duction of whisky. Varieties of this and the six-rowed barleys 

 are also sown in autumn to be fed off in spring as a green fodder 

 crop. 



On account of its rapid growth and power of giving a moderately 

 good crop on poor soils, bere is the most suitable cereal for 

 the northern parts of Europe where the summers are of short 

 duration ; in such localities it forms the chief bread-stuff. 



Formerly this race of barley was used in the preparation of 

 malt and beer, and to a slight extent this is still the case ; the 

 proteid-content of the grain is, however, frequently too high 

 and the starch-content too low for the preparation of a good 

 malt, and the two-rowed races on account of their superiority 

 in these respects have now almost entirely superseded bere for 

 malting purposes. Moreover, on good soil the yield of the two- 

 rowed varieties is equal to, if not superior to, that of bere. 



To this race belong Naked Barley (Hordeum cceleste L.) and 

 Himalayan Barley {Hordeum trifurcatum Jacq. = H. ^giceras 

 Royle.) {C, Fig. 160). In both of these the caryopses are quite 

 free from the glumes, and fall out as readily, or more so, than 

 those of wheat. Himalayan barley is peculiar in having three- 

 pronged awns which are shorter than the grain, and bend back 

 in the form of small horns ; it is sometimes termed Nepal wheat. 



