Cultivation of Barley. 



361 



There is no remedy for the Sirex flies, but their increase 

 may be checked by clearing out all diseased and damaged 

 timber. Infested trees should be cut down and burnt in the 

 winter, when the larvae and pupae are safely housed in the 

 wood. Such timber should not be cut up into posts and 

 rails, as is frequently done, for many of the larvae and pupae- 

 will hatch out even after the wood has been creosoted. 



Cultivation of Barley. 



At a meeting of the Rye District Farmers' Club on 

 November 6th, Principal A. D. Hall, of the South-Eastern 

 Agricultural College, delivered the opening lecture of the 

 season on the "Growth of Malting Barley/' The lecturer 

 began by admitting that his subject did not perhaps appeal to a 

 large number of the members of the club, because there was 

 not much malting barley grown in the district ; still, many men 

 grew barley, and might effect a considerable improvement in 

 their product if they gave more consideration to the require- 

 ments of the brewer. The brewer maintained that much of 

 the barley grown in England could only be used with the 

 help of sugar and other substitutes. Whether that were so 

 or not, there was, at any rate, very considerable difference 

 between the best barley, for which brewers could give a good 

 price, and the ordinary article. Roughly speaking, besides 

 the skins, barley consists of starch and of albuminoids or 

 compounds containing nitrogen. The brewer wants as much 

 starch as possible, because he can turn it first into sugar and 

 then into alcohol. He does not want the albuminoids, for if 

 the beer contain any quantity of them it will not keep well. 

 A high proportion of starch in the grain generally means a 

 plump corn and a thin, wrinkled skin, and such barley was 

 most likely to be attained when the period of growth was 

 long and the ripening steady and thorough. Brightness of 

 colour in the sample was also important, not only because 

 light-coloured beers were most in fashion, but also because 

 bright colour accompanied good growth and management. 



