256 



BAELET. 



produced in a year. In I^ortli America its growth is principally 

 confined to Mexico, the middle, western, and northern States of 

 the Union, and to the British North American provinces. The 

 introduction of barley into the American colonies may be 

 traced back to the period of their settlement. By the year 1648 

 it was raised in abundance in Virginia, but soon after its culture 

 was suffered to decline, in consequence of the more profitable and 

 increased production of tobacco. It has also been sparingly 

 cultivated in the regions of the middle and northern States for 

 malting and distillation, and has been employed, after being 

 malted, as a substitute for rice. 



Barley, like wheat, has been cultivated in Syria and Egypt 

 for more than 3,000 years, and it was not until after the Eomans 

 adopted the use of wheaten bread, that they fed their stock 

 with this grain. It is evidently a native of a warm climate, as it is 

 known to be the most productive in a mild season, and will grow 

 within the tropics at an elevation of 3,000 to 4,000 feet above the 

 level of the sea. It is one of the staple crops of northern and 

 mountainous Europe and Asia. It is the corn that, next to rice, 

 gives the greatest weight of flour per acre, and it may be eaten 

 with no other preparation than that of boiling. It requires little 

 or no dressing when it is sent to the mill, having no husk, and 

 consequently produces no bran. In this coimtry barley is chiefly 

 used for malting and distilling purposes. In the year 1850, 

 40,745,050 bushels of malt paid duty, the number of maltsters 

 in the United Kingdom being from 8,000 to 9,000. About one 

 and a half million quarters of barley were imported in 1849, and 

 a little over a million quarters in 1850, principally from Denmark 

 and Prussia. The counties in England where this grain is chiefly 

 cultivated are ISTorfolk, Suffolk, Cambridge, Bedford, Herts, Lei- 

 cester, and Nottingham. The produce of barley on land well pre- 

 pared, is from thirty to fifty bushels or more per statute acre, 

 weighing from 45 to 55 lbs. per bushel, according to quality. It 

 is said to contain 65 per cent, of nutritive matter, while wheat 

 contains 78 per cent. 



The estimated average produce of barley in this country may be 

 stated as follows : — 



Acres. Crop. 



England 1,500,000 6,375,000 



Ireland 320,000 1,120,000 



Scotland 450,000 1,800,000 



2,270,000 9,295,000 



The average produce per acre, in the United Kingdom, is 41 

 quarters in England, 3-| in Ireland, and 4 in Scotland. The prices 

 of barley per quarter have ranged, m England, from 36s. 5d. in 

 1840, to 27s. 6d. in 1842. In 1847 barley reached 44s. 2d., and 

 gradually declined to 23s. 5d. in 1850. 



