32 



BARLEY. 



Barley is known to be ripe by the disappearance of the 

 reddish cast on the ear, or what the English farmers terra 

 red roan; by the ears beginning to droop, and bend them- 

 selves round against the stems ; and by the stalks becoming 

 brittle, and of a yellowish colour. This is the particular 

 period for cutting, as, if suffered to stand longer, the heads 

 break off, and the grain wastes, with the slightest touch. 

 And it may be cut with the cradle, sickle or sithe, accord- 

 ing to circumstances. If it stands straight, and is not too 

 heavy, the cradle is to be preferred ; if heavy, or lodged, 

 the sickle or sithe. But, as the grain is yet soft, and the 

 straw contains much moisture, when it ought to be cut, it 

 should be suffered to become well dried in the swath be- 

 fore it is bound in sheaves, or carried to the barn or stack. 

 If cut with the cradle or sickle, it is bound in sheaves ; but 

 the more common practice is to cut the crop with the sithe, 

 rake the ground, and load it with the barley fork. 



" Barley improves for malting by lying till October before 

 it is threshed ; though it is often threshed immediately from 

 the field. The great difficulty in preparing it for market is 

 to rid it of the awns. This may be done with flails, after 

 it has passed once through the fanning mill. And, where 

 it is in great quantities, it may be spread from four to six 

 inches upon the barn floor, and trodden with horses. 



Produce and profits. — The average product in England 

 is stated by Donaldson at thirty-two bushels per acre. The 

 product in New York varies from fifteen to seventy bushels, 

 according to season and soil ; and I think the average is 

 somewhat short of that of Great Britain. Compared with 

 wheat, its product is as two or two and a half to one ; com- 

 pared with oats, about equal, provided the soil is adapted 

 to this grain. It is, however, to be remembered, that neither 

 wheat nor oats are adapted to a barley soil ; the first requir- 

 ing a more stiff and tenacious, and the latter a more cold 

 and moist location. The average price of barley is at least 

 two thirds that of wheat : supposing wheat, then, to be $ 1 12 

 the bushel, and the product 15 bushels per acre, and barley 

 to be 75 cents, and the product of an acre 30 bushels, and 

 the expense of cultivation equal, the profits of the barley 

 will be nearly as three to two compared to wheat. Barley, 

 besides, is a less precarious crop, is subject to fewer dis- 



