362 



Cultivation of Barley. 



Turning now to the farmers' side of the question, the 

 lecturer explained that the advice he was going to offer was 

 based on two sources — experiments carried on by the South- 

 Eastern Agricultural College and the valuable records that 

 had been accumulated by the authorities of the Brewers' 

 Exhibition. 



As to the kind of barley to grow, there was little doubt but 

 that in the south of England a barley of. the Chevalier type 

 was best. Kiln-drying of the seed before sowing had often 

 been advocated so as to secure a more uniform germination, 

 which was just as important to the barley grower as to the 

 maltster who " sweated " his corn. In these experiments, 

 however, there had been little result attained by kiln-drying, 

 probably because in each case the great heat and drought 

 prevalent at the time when the seed-corn was harvested had 

 more than ripened the grain. Better results from kiln-drying 

 were probable when the seasons became more rainy again. 



One of the most striking facts brought out by the Brewers' 

 Exhibition was the importance of early sowing ; the prize 

 barleys were generally sown early in March, or even in 

 February. This year had been exceptional — the gold medal 

 barley had been sown as late as April 26th; but then the 

 spring had been such as to render the early sowing of corn 

 almost impossible. 



Early sowing further made it important to look into the 

 question of the "tilth" upon which the barley was to come. 

 They would find that the finest barleys rarely came after 

 roots, although barley after roots folded on the land was 

 perhaps the commonest rotation. Generally the best barley 

 was obtained after a straw crop ; barley after wheat following 

 a clover ley could be trusted on good land to give a fine 

 sample of barley. In some cases the land was not strong 

 enough to carry two straw crops running, so some manure 

 was wanted for the barley. This should be mainly phos- 

 phatic, 3 cwt. of superphosphate with not more than 1 cwt. 

 of nitrate of soda or a little less sulphate of ammonia, accord- 

 ing to the amount of lime in the land. 



When barley was grown after roots folded off, the sheep 

 eft too much rapidly available nutriment in the land, espe- 



