BAR 



Pfdr/BARLET, and FrcticJ} Barlet, are barley freed 

 from tlie huik, and rounded by a mill ; the diilinftion be- 

 tween the two beinj^, that the pearl barley is reduced to the 

 fize of fmall fhot, all but the very heart of the grain being 

 ground away. In miils appropriate to this purpofe, the 

 miil-ftone in roujh-hewn round its circumference ; and in- 

 ftea-l of ar. under ftone, has belosv it a wooden cafe, in 

 which it n volves, and which, on the infide, is lined with 

 a plate of inn pierced like a grstcr, with holes having their 

 (harp edges turned upwards. The barley is thrown upon 

 the ftone, which, as it nins round, draws it iii, frees it from 

 the hufk, and rounds it ; after which, it is put into fieves, 

 and fitted. The firft kind of barley-mills is a Germm in- 

 vention. In Holland, the firil v.as erected at Saardam, not 

 earher than the year 1660. This mill, which v.-as at firit 

 called the Pellikaan, fcarcely produced in feveral years pro- 

 fit fufScient to maintain a family ; but in the beginning of 

 the la!l century, there were at Saardam fifty barley-mills, 

 which brought confiderable profit to their proprietors. 



Barley, in Agriculture, a' well-known kind of grrsin from 

 which malt is made. Miller enumerates four different forts 

 of this iifcful grain : fpring barley, long- eared barley, firat- 

 barley, and luir.lcr barley. 



Tlic fpr'iug barky has a double row of beards or awns 

 ftanding ereft. This is the fort principally cultivated in the 

 fouther:i and eaftern diftrifts of both England and Scotland, 

 and which the farmers diftinguifii into two different kinds, 

 the common and the rath-ripe barley ; but the two forts are 

 in reality the fame, as the rath-ripe is only an alteration of 

 the common barley, occafioned by- being loag cultivated 

 upon warm gravelly foils. The feed of this, when fown 

 on cold or ftrong laiid, will, the firft year, ripen nearly a 

 fortnight earlier than that taken from ftrong land, and 

 therefore the farmers in the low diftriifts generally purchafe 

 their feed barley from the warm or gravelly lands ; for 

 when cultivated in the vales two or three years, it be- 

 comes full as late in ripening as the common barley of 

 their own produce : on the other hand, the farmers on warm 

 gravelly lands are obliged to procure their feed barley from 

 the ftrong laiida, otherwife their grain would degenerate in 

 bulk or fulnefs, which by this change is prevented. This 

 fort of barley is cafily diftinguiftied as above, and bef.des 

 the rind is much thinner, and of courfe it is efteemed better 

 for making malt. 



The long-eared barley is likewife cultivated in many parts 

 of England, and is a good fort ; but fome cultivators ob- 

 jedl to it, becaufc from the ears being long and heavy they 

 think it more apt to lodge. In this fort of barky, the 

 grains are regularly ranged in a double row, lying over each 

 other, like the tiles of a houfe, or the fcales of fiOi. It 

 has no beards or awns ; and its rind is very thin, and there- 

 fore it is efleemed for making malt. 



T]\e fprat-harley,v^\iic\v is fometimes alfo called Battledore, 

 Fulham, and Putney barley, from great quantities being cul- 

 tivated in the neighbourhoods of thofe places, has fliorter 

 and broader ears than either of the former forts ; the awns 

 or beards are longer, which tend greatly to prefcrve it from 

 the birds, and the grains are placed together. It fcldom, 

 however, grows fo tall as the other kinds ; the ftraw is 

 generally coarfer, and therefore not fo good as fodder for 

 cattle. 



The 'Winter barley, which is called alfo fquarc barley, bear 

 barlev, and b'l^, is feldora cultivated in the fouthern parts of 

 England ; but in the northern counties, and in Scotland, it 

 is the fort generally fown, as being much hardier than tlx 

 others. I'hcre are two kinds of this barley, the one witli 

 four rows of grains, and the oth.;r with fix, the latter of 



Vol. III. 



BAR 



which 13 commonly diftinguiftied by the name of barley big. 

 The g ■sin is large and plump ; but the rind and cha:T of 

 it being thicker than that of either of the preceding forts, 

 it ia lefs crtccmed for making malt. 



Barley, from its being that fort of grain which is confi- 

 dercd next in value to wheat, is lerj generally cultivated. 

 On diy, light, mellow foils, the thinneft-rinded and largi-ft^ 

 bodied barley, which is always efteemed the beft in quality, 

 is.produced. Even light poor foils, when diy, and from 

 nature and fituation warm, yield barley wbich h fuperior in 

 quality to that which is comm.only reaped from the ftronjcft 

 land when cold or of a moift nature. 



In the correfted report of Middlefex it is obferved, that 

 the tender nature of this plant, in its infant ftate, unfits it 

 for cold and compaft foils. It thrives beft in a foil that is 

 moderately dry and light, as a loamy fand, and is efteemed 

 rather a clean crop. As, for this crop, the foil is generally 

 well tilled late ia thcfpring, it r-ducesthe weeds very much ; 

 and from its occupying the ground only four months, they 

 have not time to recover themfelves a;,d perfeft their feed. 

 This grain may and frequently is, the writer fays, fown 

 after every kind of crop, but always fucceeds beft after 

 turnips, pcafe, beans, or others of an ameliorating qua- 

 lity. 



In the preparation for this grain, the foil (hould invariably 

 be well pulverized and rendered light firft by a thin plough- 

 ing and then by harrowing, which fliould be followed at as 

 great a diltance as the feafon will admit by a more deep 

 crofs ploughing, harrowing, and rolling. The feed (liould 

 then be ploughed in with a veiy fmall furrow, and immedi- 

 ately aftenvards clover feed harrowed in with fliort-tined 

 harrows, which leaves the land as light as poffible. The 

 next thing to be done is, with one horfe to draw a very 

 light roil over the land, in order to prefs the mould gently 

 on the feeds. Tiiefe operations promote a more certain, 

 fpeedy and equal vegetation than can be procured by har- 

 rowing in the feed. Harrowing in the feed is, however, 

 the more ufual method, and is, he thinks, the caufe of much 

 grain being loft, and alfo of the crop being often of twj 

 or three growths. Many farmers poftpone the laft roUin'' 

 until the fii-ft leaves of the feeds are up, but, it is believed, 

 more from the hurry of the feafon than from choice. This 

 perfeft tillage feldora fails to fccure a good crop of barley, 

 and a plant of clover. 



In the event of land-fprings, ortxccftive rains, it may be 

 advifable not to plough the land flat, but into ridgelcts of 

 about eighteen inches wide. Thefe will drain thenafelve* 

 dry in any weather, at leaft fo much fo, that two or three 

 dry days will prepare the foil for harrowing previous to the 

 fecond plouglnng ; and if the feafon ftiould ftill continue 

 favourable, the land on fuch fecond ploughing might be 

 laid up in a iimilar manner till fowing-time ; when two or 

 three days more of fine weather would render it fit to be 

 harrowed or fcuffled down, and for ploughing in the feed ; 

 otherwife a third ploughing may be given, and the feed be 

 harrowed in ; which laft is conlidered the better practice, 

 where the foil is not quite fo Ary as could be wiftied. Scuf- 

 fling the land, inftcad of the fecond ploughing, would in 

 fine fcafons difpatch the work, and be a faving of expcncc. 

 In the cleaneft foil it would be equal to crofs ploughing, 

 and in foils not quite free from root-weeds it would be 

 much more ufeful by bringing thera within reach of the 

 harrows. It will perform more than double the quantity of 

 work with the fame number of men and horfcs, and leave 

 the land equally ready for the hano.v and rolLr before fow- 

 iiig the feed. 



The author of the Synopfis of Huft)andry obfeiTes, how- 

 4 ^ ever, 



