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feed, pointed at both ends , having a longitudinal furrow, j un- 
rounded by the petal of the flower , which does not fall off . 
This genus of plants is ranged in the fecond fection 
of Linnaeus’s third clafs, which includes the plants 
whofe flowers have three ftamina and two ftyles. 
The Species are, 
1. Hordeum (Vulgare) fiofculis omnibus hermaphrodi- 
tis ariftatis ordinibus duobus eredtioribus. Lin. Sp. 
Plant. 84. Barley with all the flowers hermaphrodite , 
and two orders of beards , which are eredt. Hordeum 
polyfticum vernum. C. B. P. 22. Spring Barley with 
many rows of grain. 
2. Hordeum ( Zeocriton ) fiofculis lateralibus mafculis 
muticis, feminibus angularibus imbricatis. Hort. 
Upfal. 23. Barley with male flowers on the fide , with- 
out awns , and angular feeds placed over each other. LXor- 
deum diftichon. C. B. P. 22. Common long-eared Bar ley. 
3. Hordeum ( Diftichon ) fiofculis lateralibus mafculis 
muticis, feminibus angularibus imbricatis. Hort. Up- 
fal. 23. Barley with male flowers on the fide , without 
awns , and angular imbricated feeds. Hordeum diftichum, 
fpica breviore & latiore, granis confertis. Raii Syn. 
246. Barley with floor ter and broader fpikes , commonly 
called Sprat , or Battledore Barley. 
4. Hordeum ( Hexaftichon ) fiofculis omnibus herma- 
phroditis ariftatis, feminibus fexfariam aequaliter po- 
litis. Hort. Upfal. 23. Barley with all the flowers her- 
maphrodite bearded , and fix rows of feeds equally ranged. 
Hordeum hexafticum pulchrum. J. B. 2. 429. Win- 
ter, or Square Barley , Bear Barley , or Big. 
The firft fort is the common Spring Barley, which 
is principally cultivated inEngland; of this the farmers 
make two forts, viz. the common and rath-ripe Bar- 
ley, which are the fame : for the rath-ripe has only 
been an alteration, occafioned by beinglong cultivated 
upon warm gravelly lands. The feeds of this, when 
lown in cold or ftrong land, will the firft year ri- 
pen near a fortnight earlier than the feeds taken from 
ftrong land ; therefore the farmers in the vales, gene- 
rally purchafe their feed Barley from the warm land ; 
for if faved in the vales two or three years, it will be- 
come full as late in ripening as the common Barley of 
their own produdt ; and the farmers on the warm 
land are alfo obliged to procure their feed Barley 
from the ftrong land, otherwife their grain would 
degenerate in bulk and fulnefs, which by thus 
changing is prevented. This fort of Barley is eafily 
diftinguifhed by the two orders of beards, or awns, 
■which ftand eredt ; the chaff is alfo thinner than that of 
the two laft fpecies, fo is efteemed better for malting. 
The fecond fort is the long-eared Barley, which is cul- 
tivated in many parts of England, and is an exceed- 
ing good fort ; but fome farmers objedt to this fort, 
becaufe they fay the ears being long and heavy, it is 
Snore apt to lodge ; this hath the grains regularly 
ranged in a double row, lying over each other like 
tiles on a houfe, or the fcales of fifties. The hufk, 
or chaff of this Barley is alfo very thin, fo is much 
efteemed for malting. 
The third fort is ufually called Sprat Barley ; this 
hath ftiorter and broader ears than either of the other 
forts ; the awns, or beards, are longer, and the grains 
are placed clofer together, and the awns being long, 
the birds cannot fo eafily get out the grains •, this 
feldom grows fo tall as the other fpecies, the ftraw is 
Shorter and coarfer, fo not very good fodder for cattle. 
The fourth fort is rarely cultivated in the fouthern 
parts of England, but in the northern counties, and 
in Scotland, is generally fown, being much hardier 
than the other fpecies, fo will bear the cold ; this hath 
its grains difpofed in_ fix rows : the grain is large and 
plump, but it is not fo good for malting, which is the 
reafon for its not being cultivated in the fouthern 
parts of England, where the other forts, which are 
much better for that purpofe, do thrive well. 
All thefe forts of Barley are fown in the fpring of the 
year, in a dry time ; in fome very dry light land, 
the Barley is fown early in March ; but, in ftrong 
clayey foils, it is not fown till April, and fometimes 
not until the beginning of May ; but when it is 
fown late, if the fealbn doth not prove very favour- 
H O R 
able, it is very late in autumn, before it is fit to rjidW, 
urilefs it be the rath-ripe fort, which is often ripe in 
nine weeks from the time of fowlng. 
Some people low Barley upon land where Wheat 
grew the former year ; but when this is pra&ifed, the 
ground fhould be ploughed the beginning of October 
in a dry time, laying it in fmall ridges, that the froft 
may mellow it the better, and this will improve the -• 
land greatly:; and if this can be ploughed again in 
January, or the beginning of February, it will break 
and prepare the ground better ; then in March the 
ground is ploughed again, and laid even where it 
is not very wet ; but in ftrong wet lands the ground 
ftiould be laid round, and the furrows made deep 
to receive the wet. When this is finished, the com- 
mon method is to fow the Barley-feed with a broad 
caft at two fowings ; the firft being harrowed in once, 
the fecond is harrowed until the feed is buried ; the 
common allowance of feed is four buftiels to an acre. 
This is the quantity of grain ufually fown by the far- 
mers •, but if they could be prevailed on to alter this 
praflice, they would foon find their account in it ; 
for if lefs than half that quantity is fown, there will be 
a much greater produce, and the com will be lefs lia- 
ble to lodge, as X have many years experienced ; for 
when corn or any other vegetable Hands very -dole, 
the ftalks are drawn up weak, fo are incapable to refift 
the force of winds, or bear up under heavy rains ; but 
when they are at a proper diftance, their ftalks will be 
more than twice the fize of the other, fo are feldom 
laid. X have frequently obferved in fields where there 
has been a foot-path through the middle, that the 
corn which has flood thin on each fide the path hath 
flood upright, when all the reft on both Tides has been 
laid fiat on the ground : and whoever will obferve thefe 
roots of corn near the paths, will find them tiller out 
(i. e. have a greater number of ftalks) to more than 
four times the quantity of the other parts of the 
field. I have feen experiments made by fowing Bar- 
ley in rows acrofs divers parts of the fame field, and 
the grains fowed thin in the rows, fo that the roots 
were three or four inches afunder in the rows, and the 
rows at a foot diftance ; the intermediate fpaces of 
the fame field were at the fame time fown broad caft 
in the ufual way ; the fuccefs was this, the roots which, 
flood thin in the rows tillered out from ten or twelve, 
to upward of thirty ftalks on each root, the ftalks 
were ftronger, the ears longer, and the grains larger 
than any of thofe fown in the common way ; and 
when thofe parts of the field where the com was fown 
in the ufual way has been lodged, thefe parts fown. 
thin have fupported their upright pofifion againft wind 
and rain, though the rows have been made not only 
lengthways, but crofs the lands, in feveral pofitions, 
fo that there could be no alteration in regard to the 
goodnefs of the land, or the fituation of the com ; 
therefore where fuch experiments have been fre- 
quently made, and always attended with equal fuc- 
cefs, there can be no room to doubt which of the two 
methods is more eligible ; fince if the crops were 
only fuppofed to be equal in both, the having more 
than half the com fown is a very great advantage, and 
deferves a national consideration, as fuch a having, in 
fcarce times, might beavery greatbenefit to the public. 
I know the farmers in general are very apt to com- 
plain if their corn does not come up fo thick as to co- 
ver the ground green in a Short time, like Grafs fields ; 
but X have often obferved, that from the badnefs of 
the leafon it has come up thin, or by accident has 
been in part killed, their corn has been ftronger, the 
ears longer, and the grain plumper, fo that the pro- 
duce has been much greater than in thofe years when 
it has come up thick ; for the natural growth of corn 
is to, lend out many ftalks from a root, and not rife 
fo much in height; therefore it is entirely owing 
to the roots Handing too near each other, when the 
ftalks are drawn up tall and weak. I have had eighty- 
fix ftalks upon one root of Barley, which were ftrong, 
produced longer ears, and the grain was better filled 
than any which X ever faw grow in the .common me- . 
thod of hufbandry, and the land upon which this 
gre?/ 
