12 QUEENSLAND AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. {1 Jury, 1902. 
as your land is in a fit state. and you have ploughed it for the last time, that you 
should sow as soon as possible on that furrow. Barley is not a subsoiler like 
wheat, or a scavenger like oats. It is entirely a surface plant, and you do not 
want your pulverised soil to be dried in the sun. Some criticisms have been 
made on my remarks relative to cutting, but if my paper is referred to it will 
be seen that L do not recommend that barley should be cut green. I said that 
barley should be ripe, but not over-ripe—that is, the grain should have attained 
its full size, which will take place just before it is hard, and while there is 
sufficient sap in the straw to prevent shedding. Any farmer knows that growing 
barley in New Zealand or in Europe is a different thing to growing it in 
Queensland. You have a much moister climate there than you have in 
Queensland, and if you let your barley get dead ripe here the straw gets dead 
rotten, and the best’of your grain will fall out as soon as it is handled. 
_ Therefore, I consider that if you want to protect yourselves you will be wise if you 
adopt the advice on this point given in the paper. The fact is if you cut your 
barley when it is too ripe you will lose your grain. Of course, you do not 
want to cut it green, and I do not suppose that any farmer would do that. Mr. 
Lamb raised the question of stacking, and also objected to the fallowing that I 
suggested. I only have to point out that if he will take two pieces of land, 
fallow one and crop the other, he will then see what fallowing will do. I have 
seen land in New Zealand that has been worked for years, and would practically 
grow nothing. By fallowing, however, the owners were able to get splendid 
crops. allowing sweetens and mellows the soil, and you will find that your 
barley will be much more prolific on fallowed land. 
Mr. Lame: You will get more straw. 
Mr. Repwoop: I do not think so. A difficulty with malting barley some- 
times purchased by me has been caused through the seed having been sown too 
thickly. The resultant grain has been too small. What we want is a bold, 
plump barley. We can produce it, and we are now getting into a stage that 
our barley will be equal to any grown in Australia. 1 have watched this 
industry gradually grow from 25 bushels in 1896 to this year, when, I believe, 
there were pretty well nearly a quarter of a million bags of barley grown on 
the Downs. Mr. Lamb’s remarks on stacking were to the effect that most 
of the barley came to the maltsters just threshed from the stook. I do not 
deny that a large percentage is to the detriment of the maltster. Barley 
should be stacked two months. If this is done, it will grow when malting 
more regularly. You will produce a much superior malt from barley that has 
been mellowed in the stack than if it is threshed straight from the stook. 
Another important point is, stacking obviates the necessity of farmers rushing 
the market with their barley. At present we get all the barley in within a 
period of about six weeks, and to handle it in that time necessitates a rather 
heavy expense. By stacking, the value of the barley would be improved, and 
the farmer would get a better price for it both on account of that improve- 
ment and also owing to the fact that the market was not suddenly flooded. A 
gentleman asked the objection to the stripper. From what I have seen of the 
stripper, so far as barley is concerned, I may say that its disadvantages have 
been largely caused by the improper handling of the machines. Most of the 
stripped barley that comes to me has been bruised and knocked about, and is 
practically unfit for malting. However, I believe in stacking for the reason 
that you get a better malt. Moreover, barley straw is valuable, and with the 
stripper you lose this. Again, with the stripper you have to run risks. You 
have to let your barley get dead ripe, and if a heavy wind springs up you are 
liable to lose a great deal of it. 
ELEVATORS AND THE STORAGE OF GRAIN IN BULK. 
This was on the programme as a subject for discussion, and the debate was 
opened by the Hon. A. J. Thynne, M.L.C., representing the Chamber of Agri- 
culture, Brisbane. 
