BAR 



BAR 



the authority of evidence before a committee of the Loiulon fown in the ufual way have been lodged, thefc parts fown 



Society of Arts. 



With regard to the choice of feed bnrlcy, it is iitcefTavy to 

 obferve that the btft grain for fowing is that which is free 

 from blacl<.nefs at the tail, and is of a pair lively yellow co- 

 lour, intermixed with a bright whitifh c:;i!: ; and if the rind 

 be a little ihrivelkd, it is fo much the better, as it P.iows 

 that it has fwcatcd in the mow, and is a fure indication that 



thin have fupported their upright polition againft wiiul and 

 rain, thongli the rows have been made not only length-ways 

 but acrofs the lands in feveral pofitions, fo that there could 

 be no alteration in regard to the goodnefs of the land, or 

 the fitnation of the corn. Whc'e therefore fuch experi- 

 ments have been made, and always attended with equal luc- 

 cefs, there can be r.o room to doubt which of the two uic- 



its coat is thin. The huHc of tliick-rinded barley being too thods is mod eligible, fincc, if the crops were only fnppofod 



ftiff to fhrink, will lie fmooth and hollow even when the to be equal ii^ both, the faving two tiurds of the corn iown 



inf.de (lour has (hrunk from it. is a very great advantage, and dcferves a national conlider- 



The necefTitv of a change of feed from time to time, by ation, as fuch a (avmg in fcarce times might be ot very great 



fowing that of 'the growth of a different foil, as has been benefit to tlie piibhc. This faving of feed-corn (fays he) 



obferved, -is in no inllance more evident than in the culture mull be underd.iod to regard fuch as is fown broadcaft ; 



of this rrrain, which othcrwife becomes coarfcr and coarfcr for if it be fown in drills, an eighth part of the feed ufually 



cver\' year. But in this, as well as in all other grain, the fown will be fnfHcient for an acre of land, and the produce be 



utmoft care (hould be taken th.at the feed be full bodied. greater ; for all forts of corn are naturally inclined to fend 



Itiseafy to fuppofethat barley, like wheat, may be bene- out fjvcral flalks from each root, which they rarely fail to 



fited by being ftecpcd before it is fown. For as rain cannot do where t!ie roots are at a proper diltance and have room ; 



always be depended upoK foon after the fowing of fpring nor do the ftalks grow in this cafe near io tall, but arc much 



corn, there is furely an equal reafon for extending the prac- ftronger than when they are near together, when they 



tice to thtfe forts of grain as well as thofe which are fown rarely have> more than two or three ftalks, whereas thofe 



in autumn. Liming indeed may hurt barley in fome cafes, 

 but a little fprinkling of foot bids fair for improving it, at 

 leaft it may prevent infefts from preying upon the feed. 

 Mr. Middleton indeed rc.uark?, 'that the feed is never 



roots which have proper room fcldom have iefs than ten or 

 twelve. He has had eighty ilalks upon one root of barley, 

 which were ftrong, produced long ears, and the grain was 

 better filled than any he ever faw grow in the common 



fteeped, and yet the farmers are continually complaining of method of hulbandry, and the land on which this grew was 

 its cominn- up at different periods, thus' producing two not very rich ; but he has frequently obferved on the fides 

 crops which do not become ripe at the fame time, and are of hot-beds in the kitchen gardens, where barley ftraw has 

 injurious to the fample. Steeping the feed a proper num- been ufed for covering the beds, that fome of the grains 

 ber of hours, which might be afcertained by experiment, left in the ears have dropped out and grown, the roots 

 feems (he fays) to be as well calculated to fecure an uniform have produced from thirty tofixty Ilalks each, and thofe have 

 vegetation and prevent this complaint, as poifoning the been four or five times larger in fize than the ilalks ever ar- 

 feed appears to be to keep it from vermin. rive at in the common way. But to this, he knows, it may 



According to Miller, the common method is to fow the be objefted, that although upon rich ground in a garden 

 barley-feed with a broad-caft at two fowings ; the firil be- thefe roots of corn may probably have fo many ilalks, yet 

 ing harrowed in at once, but the fecond not until the feed is in poor land they will not have fuch produce ; therefore, 

 buried. The common allowance of feed is four bulliels to unlels a greater quantity of feeds be fown, the crop will not 

 an acre: but (fays he) if the farmers could be prevailed be worth Handing; which is (be fap) one of the greatell 

 upon to alter this praflice, they would foon find their ac- fallacies that can be imagined ; for to fuppofe that poor 

 count in it ; for if a third part of that quantity be fown, land can nouridi more than twice the number of roots in the 

 there will be a much greater produce, and the corn will be fame fpace as rich land, is fuch an ablurdity as one could 

 much Iefs liable to lodge, as he has many times experienced ; hardly fuppofe any perfon of common underftanding guilty 



of: and yeC fo it is ; for the general pradice is to aliow a 

 greater quantity of feed to poor land than for richer 

 ground ; not confidering that where the rocJts Hand fo 

 clofe, they will deprive each other of their nourilhment, 

 Ilalks will be more than twice the fize of the other, and and confequently ftarve themfelves, as is always the cafe 

 therefore are feldom laid. He fays he has frequently ob- when the roots ftand clofe, which any perfon may at firft 

 ferved in fields where there has been a foot-path through fight obferve in any part of the fields where the corn hap- 

 their middle, that the corn which has flood thin on each pens to fcatter when they are fowing it ; or in places where 

 fide of the path has flood upright, when all the reft on by harrowing the feed is drawn in heaps, thofe patches 

 both fides has been laid flat on the ground ; and whoever will flarve, and never grow to a third part of the fize as the 

 will crive himfelf the trouble to examine thefe roots near the otiier parts of the fume field ; and yet, common as this is, 

 path, will find them tiller out, that is, have a greater num- it is little noticed by farmers, otherwife (fays he) they 

 ber of flalks, to more than four times the quantity of the furely would not continue their old cuflom of fowing. He 

 other parts of the field. He has feen experiments made by has made many experiments for feveral years in the pooreft 

 fowing barley in rows acrofs diveis parts of the fame field, land, and has aUvays found that all crops which were fown 

 and the grains fown thin in the rows, fo that the roots were or planted at a greater diftance than ufual, have fucceeded 

 three or four inches afundeV in the rows, and the rows a befl upon fuch land ; and he is convinced, if farmers would 

 foot diftant ; the intermediate fpaces of the fame field were be prevailed upon to qiit their prejudices and make trial of 

 at the fame time fown broad-call in the ufual way. The the method of fowing tlieir corn thin, they would foon fee 

 fuccefs was this : the roots which flood thin in the rows, the advantage of this hufoandry. 



tillered out from ten or twelve to upwards of thirty flalks The experiments of Mr. Young, however, lead us to a 

 «n each root ; the ftalks were (Ironger, the ears longer, and different conclufion. On April 25th, 179 1, upon a land 

 the grains larger, than any of thofe fown in the com.mon of moift loam on a wet marl bottoui, worth about fixteen 

 way ; and whca thofe parts of the ikld where the com was (hillings au acre, he marked four beds, each, eight feet 



I long 



for when corn or any other vegetable ftands very clofe, the 

 ftalks are drawn up weak, and thence incapable of refifting 

 the force of the winds, or fupporting themfelves under 

 heavy rains ; but when they are at a proper diftance, their 



