1 Junr, 1898. ] QUEENSLAND AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. © 441 
arrival at the actual cost price. Before planting, the barley requires to be 
soaked in a solution of bluestone as a preventive of smut. The following 
are the usual proportions :—To one bag of seed use 1 1b. bluestone; dissolve in 
suflicient water to thoroughly cover all the barley, and then spread out the 
grain to dry. Or, spread the grain upona floor and sprinkle with the solution, 
and keep turning over and wetting until every grain is thoroughly soaked. 
If required for immediate use, the bluestone may be dissolved first in a little 
boiling water and then mixed with the cold, The next item to consider is the 
SOIL. 
All authorities agree that the best barley is grown upon light, loamy soils, 
with calcareous, z.¢., limestone, chalk, or marly subsoils. ‘The light, chocolate 
soil of this district has proved wonderfutly well adapted to the growth of good 
malting barley, and with the exercise of a little care and forethought it is . 
certain that this will become one of the largest barley-growing centres in 
Australia. On virgin soil, and on the banks of the streams, excellent results 
have been attained, 40 bushels to 50 bushels to the acre are nothing new, and 
in some instances this yield has been exceeded. On the stiff, black soil flats 
occasional fair yields are recorded, but only in certain seasons, and the barley 
is invariably of the flinty kind and not so amenable to treatment in the malt- 
house as the floury kinds grown upon lighter soils. Having picked the soil, I 
will now go into the matter of 
CULTIVATION, ; 
Barley requies a well-pulverised soil (if possible, to the. consistency of 
ashes). If good results are aimed at, a ploughing early in the year and cross- 
ploughing and harrowing before planting are almost a necessity. If the grain 
is sown ‘broadcast, it will require harrowing again after, and some growers 
think it advisable to harrow again even after drill planting. ‘The best time for 
SOWING j 
is during May ; the first half of this month is generaliy preferred by farmers. 
In many cases barley sown in the early.part of June gives good results, and 
when the season is backward it would not be inadvisable to plant.as late as 
July, but in late planting a farmer must use his own discretion. Early planted 
barley has a chance to get well forward and make provision for properly and 
eradually filling the grain with the starchy ingredients before the hot weather 
sets in; but in late planted barley the growth is oftimes too quick, the grain 
is forced and has not the requisite period for laying up the necessary ingredients 
in its body, and the result is too much gluten—or, in other words, the grain is 
. stecly or flinty, which in turn makes flinty malt, and is not so casy to work or 
so full of the necessary saccharine compounds when it reaches the brewer's 
hands. In fact, many brewers refuse to touch the malt made from this class - 
of grain. Besides, in the late sown article it is often found that the grain has 
not time to fill at all before the hot dry weather ripens it, and the result is the 
long, thin, almost empty husk—the dismay of all maltsters, and which is 
actually only fit for pig or horse feed. The best of seed grain can be wasted in 
this way. Every two (or at the outside three) years, the seed should be 
changed, and it is best to get good seed from some neighbouring grower. With 
regard to the quantity the usual amount is 45 1b. to 50 lb. to the acre if sown 
broadcast, and 5 Ib. less if drilled; the quality of the soil must be taken into 
consideration, as the richer the soil the more the barley stools, and the less seed. 
is required. In late planting a little more than the usual quantity is required, 
as the barley has not the time to stool so much as in early sown. If planted too 
thick (owing to its nature of shooting) too many stalks appear, and on account 
of the overcrowding the roots are unable to obtain sufficient nutriment to 
properly fill the grain. In England and on the Continent from 2 bushels to 
4 bushels to the acre are sown, but it must be remembered that the soil is not 
