OR, PLAIN TEACHING. 



279 



form. By this ar- 

 rangement, the air 

 and light have free 

 access to the ripen- 

 ing grass, while 

 the rain washes off 

 the eggs or larvae 

 of insects that 

 would otherwise 

 prey upon the seed. 

 The plant is ten- 

 der, and the seed 

 very liable to be 

 shaken out by the 

 wind, an apparent 

 defect which is wisely counter- 

 balanced by u 

 the slenderness 

 of the stem, 

 which, bending 

 to the current, 

 modifies its 

 intensity, and 

 preserves its 

 fruit uninjured 



the oat, 14, is long and thin, with 

 a slight indication of beard. 



grain 



Barley, as commonly known, 



705. 



is divided into three varieties, 

 the four-rowed, 15, six-rowed, 16, 

 and two-rowed, 17, from the 

 number of the rows of grains 

 in the ears respectively. Of 

 these the two-rowed, 17, is the 

 most commonly cultivated. 



The grains of barley, 18, are 

 divided by a straight medium 

 line, which divides the grain 

 into two equal sides ; the grains 

 are short and 

 plump in form. 

 B ara is the 

 Celtic word for 

 bread, whence the 

 English words 

 barn and barley ; and beer is an 

 abbreviation of the name of bar- 

 ley. In the South of Europe 

 they have sometimes two barley 

 crops in one season ; one sown 

 in autumn and cut in May, and 

 another sown in spring and cut 

 in the autumn. In England 

 nine weeks, and in Lapland two 

 months elapse between the sowing 

 of the seed and the reaping of 

 the crop. 



On examining the ears of 

 wheat, 19, considerable difference 

 may be observed. In some kinds 

 the spikelets are set open, and 

 so far asunder as to allow the 

 stalk to be seen between them, 

 as in the Talavera white wheat, 1 ; 

 in others the spikelets are of 

 medium length and breadth, and 

 are j ust close enough to prevent 

 the stem or radius from being 

 seen, as in Hunter's white wheat, 

 2 ; some descriptions of wheat are 

 bearded, as the Caucasian red 

 wheat, 3 ; but the finest kinds 

 are those of the close-eared, or 

 Hickling's prolific, 4, in which the 



