30 



BARLEY. 



besid 3s, it is contravening one of the most salutary maxims 

 of husbandry, to grow two dry crops in succession. It may 

 follow clover ; but if the soil is heavy, the ley should be 

 ploughed in autumn. Barley is successfully sown upon the 

 fallows in England, (not summer, but autumn fallows,) and 

 is sown sometimes after wheat ; but in the latter case tur- 

 nips are pulled, and previously fed upon the stubble — a prac- 

 tice which I think is not likely to obtain here. I have 

 generally sown barley after ruta baga or potatoes, these 

 crops having received a good dressing of long, yard or stable- 

 manure. 



" Manure should not be applied to the barley, but to the 

 preceding crop. The short period that this grain occupies 

 the ground does not afford time for the manure to decom- 

 pose, and yield its food to the plants ; and, if applied in ex- 

 cess, it causes a too rank vegetation, and the straw lodges 

 before the grain is matured. Where a fallow or clover ley 

 is employed, and ploughed in autumn, dung may be pre- 

 viously applied and ploughed under. 



" Preparation of the ground. — Where barley follows a 

 root or hoed crop, one ploughing will generally suffice : 

 but in all cases a complete pulverization of the soil is neces- 

 sary ; and to effect this a roller is often of material benefit. 

 If sown upon grass leys, ploughed in autumn, the spring 

 ploughing should be shallow, so as to leave the sod re- 

 versed. But the preferable way may be to harrow the fal- 

 low, plough in the seed, with a light furrow, and smooth 

 off with the harrow. 



" The seed., and sowing. — Loudon enumerates six species 

 and sub-species of the barley. The kinds uniformly culti- 

 vated here are the two, four, and six rowed spring, (horde- 

 um vidgare^ and h. distichon.) Thin-skinned, pale, plump 

 seed should be selected. I sow as soon as the ground is 

 sufficiently dry in spring. The young grain is not hurt by 

 the ordinary frosts of the latter part of April and May. I 

 sow from six to eight pecks per acre, according to the rich- 

 ness of the soil and the forwardness of the season ; the 

 poorest ground and the latest sowing requiring the most 

 seed. In England the common quantity of seed is from 

 eight to sixteen pecks. Our climate being much warmer 

 than that of Great Britain, barley and other grains till better 

 with us, and consequently we require less seed. We uni- 



