5IO CULTIVATED BARLEYS 



good barleys is 56 lbs. ; samples exhibited in the Brewers' 

 Exhibition usually vary from 53 to 60 lbs. One hundred grains 

 should weigh between 4 and 5 grams ; in the erect-eared barleys 

 the latter weight is sometimes exceeded. 



d. Mealiness. — When cut across the grains should show a 

 snow-white surface, but rarely do we find samples perfect in this 

 respect, most of them containing a larger or smaller number 

 of flinty grains. 



e. ' Skin.' — The proportion of ' skin ' or husk (glumes and 

 pericarp) to the rest of the grain is subject to much variation ; 

 in some cases the percentage of husk is as low as 8 per cent, while 

 in others it is as high as 16. In thin-skinned samples the grains 

 show a series of delicate transverse lines or puckers due to loss 

 of water and slight shrinkage of the internal contents during 

 ripening. Thick-skinned grains show no such lines. 



f. Colour. — The sample should be pale yellow or a pale 

 clean straw colour and uniform all over the grain. A stained 

 or discoloured appearance is often associated with inferior and 

 damaged samples ; grains, therefore, with brown bases, or which 

 are grey or of dark tint are to be avoided. The brown tips of 

 the grains are frequently caused by dark coloured fungi, but 

 occasionally it is the natural tint of the barley, and may in such 

 cases be no indication of inferiority of sample. 



Barleys exposed to heavy dews and rain are generally darker 

 in colour than well-harvested crops. 



g. 5»/«//.— Samples which have been soaked with rain during 

 stacking often give evidence of the injury by its musty smell. 



h. Freedom from broken or cut grains. — Great care should be 

 taken when thrashing malting-barley to have the machine 

 properly set, so that the awns are not cut off too short nor 

 the grains cut in two. Closely cut grains often have the 

 embryo so damaged that the latter will not germinate, and cut 

 grains are liable to become mouldy when damped and placed on 

 the malting-floor. 



