BARLET. 



255 



harvest, the wheat reaches England in a state too dirty and 

 weevelled for market. The hard wheat is preferred by the natives 

 in India to the soft, probably for no better cause than that the 

 hardness of the grain more closely resembles their favorite food, 

 rice. 



EAELEY. 



Oats, rye and barley, are the staple crops of northern and moun- 

 tainous Europe and Asia. In England barley is grown principally 

 in the eastern and some of the midland counties, and chiefly for 

 malting. It is most extensively cultivated in the Himalaya and 

 Thibet, replacing in many districts the wheat, and producing an 

 admirable flour. 



Since the establishment of the studs at Buxar, Ghazepore, &c., 

 oats have been extensively cultivated. It is a winter crop. 



Although behoved to have been indigenous to the countries 

 bordering on the torrid zone, this grain possesses the remarkable 

 flexibility of maturing in favorable seasons and situations on 

 the eastern continent as far north as 70 deg., and flourishes well 

 in lat. 42 deg. south. Along the Atlantic side of the continent 

 of America, its growth is restricted to the tract lying between 

 the 30th and 50th parallels of north latitude, and between 30 and 

 40 deg. south. I^ear the westerly coast, its range lies principally 

 between latitude 20 and 62 deg. north. The barley chiefly cul- 

 tivated in the United States is the two-rowed variety which is 

 generally preferred from the fulness of its grain and its freedom 

 from smut. Barley has never been much imported from that 

 country, as the Americans have been rather consumers than pro- 

 ducers. The consumption of barley there in 1850 in the manu- 

 facture of malt and spirituous liquors amounted to 3,780,000 

 bushels, and according to the census returns, the quantity of 

 barley raised was 4,161,504 bushels in 1840, and 5,167,213 bushels 

 in 1850. In this country barley is extensively used for malting, dis- 

 tilling, and making beer ; large quantities are consumed in Scot- 

 land, or carried into England. 



In Prussia, about ten and a half million hectolitres of barley 

 are annually raised. In the Canary Isles, about 354,000 bushels 

 are annually exported. In Yan Piemen's Land in 1844, 174,405 

 bushels of barley were grown on 12,466 acres. 



The quantity of barley made into malt in the United Kingdom 

 in the year ending 10th October, 1850, was 5,183,617 quarters, 

 of which about four million quarters were used by 8,500 maltsters. 

 The quantity of malt charged with duty in the year ending 5th 

 January, 1851, was 636,641 tons ; the average price per quar- 

 ter, 26s. 2d. 



Barley is at present extensively cultivated in the temperate 

 districts and islands of Europe, Asia, Africa and Australia. In 

 Spain, Sicily, the Canaries, Azores and Madeira, two crops are 



