Barley from a Maltsters Point of Vieiv. 
607 
Every practical raan will at once recognise the importance 
of these improvements, as affecting the quality of the malt, 
hops, and other produce. The process of drying need no longer 
be governed by rule of thumb, for by these new appliances it 
becomes a scientific process capable of being regulated to a 
nicety. Equally important to the maltster, with its influence 
upon the question of quality, is the effect of the new system 
upon the time occupied in drying. By its means we can now 
dry off" the same quantity at a far higher temperature in one 
third the time hitherto necessary, and in constructing new malt- 
ings the requisite kiln space may therefore be proportionately 
reduced. 
The old theory of malting was that the process of vegetating 
barley needs to be conducted in the dark, and without air as well 
as light, so that the level of the growing-floor was generally 
excavated to some feet below the ground. There was barely 
room for a man to stand upright upon it without knocking his 
head against the floor above, and ventilation was conspicuous by 
its absence. Now this idea has been altogether exploded by 
modern experience, and the new maltings just erected by my 
firm at Mistley (which we claim to be amongst the largest and 
most perfectly constructed in the kingdom) consist of five floors 
each averaging eight feet in height from the floor, and all of them 
thoroughly ventilated and lighted throughout. The block of 
buildings occupies an area of about 200 ft. in length by 140 ft. in 
depth, of which about one-fourth is O'^cupied by the kilns, malt 
stores, engines, &c. Of the remainder, the top floor, measuring 
140 ft. by 120 ft., is devoted to the storage of barley after it has 
been screened, and is capable of holding between 8,000 and 10,000 
quarters, and the other four contain the steeping cisterns, and 
are used as " growing floors." It is found that so far from light 
and air being detrimental to the growth of barley, they are posi- 
tively beneficial, and it stands to reason that malt made under 
such conditions must be superior to that manufactured in the 
badly constructed buildings which still do duty as maltings in 
many places throughout the country. 
In the process of malting barley a remarkable property is 
developed in the grain which is known to chemists as the 
diastase, and its importance in brewing lies in the power which 
it possesses of rapidly and completely converting the starch cells 
of the malt into brewing sugar. Now it is the presence of this 
diastase which has of late years led to the preparation and sale 
throughout the civilised world of large quantities of " Malt 
Extract " for medicinal purposes. It is found to be an effective 
aid to digestion, and it also contains valuable nutritive and 
