190 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
Juke 15. 
Wheat is as early in the harvest as the Barley ? The 
answer is quite satisfactory. In Egypt, Palestine, and 
the neighbouring regions, the Barley and the‘Wheat 
are sown at the same time in October, and the former 
j being of the quickest growth is harvested at the present 
I day in March ; whereas, the Wheat harvest is during 
April, in Upper Egypt, and during May, in Lower Egypt. 
If, therefore, the hail' descended during February, it 
| would be when the green ears of Barley were fully out, 
but whilst the Wheat was only in leaf, and the grain 
stalks “ not grown up.” That the hail did occur during 
that month we are justified in concluding, because the 
Israelites were allowed by Pharaoh to depart in their 
month Abib, which corresponds nearly to our March ; 
and between the descent of the hail and their departure 
three other plagues were inflicted. A modern traveller, 
Dr. Richardson, confirms this explanation; for writing 
from Egypt early in March, he says, “ The Barley and 
the Flax are now far advanced ; the former is in the 
I ear, and the latter, is boiled (has thrown up the stalk), 
aud it seems to be about this season of the year that 
God brought the plague of thunder and hail upon the 
Egyptians.”—( Travels , ii 163). 
It was considered by the Israelites as an inferior kind 
j of food ; for although it sometimes yielded “ in the same 
! year an hundredfold”— (Genesis xxvi. 13)*—yet its per¬ 
manent lowness of price arose in reality from the want 
of demand as an article of superior consumption. Thus, 
we learn its value in Samaria, in comparison with the flour 
! of Wheat about 2,700 years ago, from this passage:— 
I “ a measure of fine flour was sold for a shekel, aud two 
measures of Barley for a shekel” (3 Kings vii. 10); a. 
| proportion agreeing tolerably, with the relative value of 
! Wheat and Barley in our markets. 
Barley was chiefly cultivated for making bread for 
I servants and workmen, and as provender for horses. 
| Thus, together with Wheat and other food, the King of 
| Tyre gave to King Solomon’s “ hewers, that cut timber,” 
i “ twenty thousand measures of Barley (2 C'hron. ii. 10). 
i Nor was it without an emphatic meaning that it is 
! recorded that the prophet Elisha was reduced to no 
! better fare than “ loaves of barley” bestowed on him in 
charity (2 Kings iv. 42), and that our Saviour had no 
better provision wherewith to feed the multitude than 
that miraculously extended from “five Barley loaves” 
(John vi. 9). If Elisha and Jesus murmured not at 
such humble provision, ought not we, whatever our lot, 
learn therewith to be content? 
That Barley was the usual food for horses in Judea, 
aud elsewhere in that part of Asia, appears from many 
authorities ; but it will be sufficient to quote this one— 
“ Solomon had forty thousand stalls of horses for his 
chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen. And those 
officers (the twelve Governors of Israel) provided victual 
for King Solomon : Barley also and straw for the horses 
and dromedaries” (l Kings iv. 20-28). The straw was 
not as bedding for the horses, because the natives use 
* In our translations of the Bible it is rendered simply, “ Isaac sowed 
in that land and received in the same year an hundredfold,” but there is 
no doltht but that in the original it is “ an hundredfold of Biu ley."—See 
Dr. Parkhurst, the Septuagint, &c. 
only the animals’dung dried for such purpose, but the 
straw was chopped or broken small, like our cut chaff, 
and was mingled with the Barley. That Barley was 
used similarly as provender by the Greeks, we have the 
testimony of Homer (lluul v. 196); and the Arabs still 
employ it as their horses food. 
The meal and the bran of Barley, from the earliest 
ages, have, also, taken apart in sacrifices and incantations. 
Thus, in that earliest form of trial by ordeal, when the j 
jealous Hebrew husband brought his suspected wife to | 
the Priest “ to drink the bitter water that causetli the 
curse,” it was ordained that “ he shall bring her offering 
for her, the tenth part of an ephah of Barley meal; he i 
shall pour no oil upon it, nor put frankincense thereon ; . 
for it is an offering of jealousy, an offering of memorial, 
bringing iniquity to remembrance” (Numbers v. 15). 
It is not difficult to trace from that solemnity the 
Barley bran used by the Greeks to excite or to rekindle 
affection in those they loved. Either it was scattered 
dry upon the flames, or it was made into a paste and cast 
into the fire (Theocritus v. 33). The Greeks may have 
seen in the jealousy offering of the Jews nothing more : 
than an incantation. 
The Bornological Society, we are very glad to hear, is 
making good progress. Robert Hanbury, Esq., Thomas 
Ingram, Esq., and Henry Bellender Ker, Esq., will be 
proposed as Vice-Presidents, and we hav*no doubt that 
a Meeting of the Society will soon be announced. 
We heard from Devonshire, as long since as the 24th 
of May, that the Potato Murrain had there made its 
appearance, and some leaves, which accompanied the 
communication, confirmed the statement. Such appear¬ 
ances have been usual for several years past, but if we 
have a dry, warm summer, the early disease of the 
leaves will be of little consequence, for in such weather 
it will not spread extensively to the tubers. 
TRAINING FRUITS IN PARTIQULAR FORMS. 
In my last paper, it will be remembered I explained 
those principles which mainly refer to the health 
and enlargement of the tree, t will now offer advice 
about particular forms of training; and as a greater 
variety of shapes are practised with Pears than with any 
other fruit-tree, I will take them to illustrate the subject. 
I cannot undertake in one chapter to handle every mode; 
but must content myself with some of the principal, . 
which, indeed, with very trifling modifications, will fairly 
represent the whole. 
1 st. The Pyramidal mode as standards. 
2nd. The Table Trellis. 
3rd. The Umbrella mode. 
4th. Tho old Trellissed Espalier. 
5tli. Fan training. 
0th. Horizontal training. 
These six may be fairly stated as the only modes 
worthy of recognition as containing a principle; most 
others are the dictates of mere fancy, to which I can have 
no objection whatever. 
