which, although it does not actually lower its value in use, creates a prejudice against it in the market. As long ago as 1823 a small quantity of fluid extract of this bark was brought to London from Australia, and, after having been subjected to trial by some tanners, was purchased by them. Since that time, importations of the bark in its crude state, as well as in the form of an extract, have continually been made. Quercitron Bark.-This name has been given to the bark of a description of oak, the Quercus nigra, or tinctoria, which is a native of North America. It is used as a dye stuff for imparting a yellow colour, the different shades of which depend upon the choice of the substance employed as a mordant. This bark was first brought into use in England by Dr. Bancroft, who obtained an exclusive patent for its application to this purpose. The colouring matter resides wholly in the inner bark of the tree; the outer bark is therefore removed previous to its being packed in casks for shipment. Quercitron bark which has been previously ground in a mill, gives out its colouring matter to water when heated to the temperature of 100° Fahr. If a higher degree of heat be used, the tannin which the bark contains will also be dissolved, and this will impart a brown tinge to the dye which it is desirable to avoid. For this reason the dye must always be separated from the bark before it is used. The colouring matter obtained from the quercitron-bark of commerce is equal to that yielded by eight or ten times its weight of weld.

Peruvian Bark.-German, Chinarinde, Fieberrinde; Dutch, Kina, Quinquina; Danish, Kina, Chinabark; Swedish, Feberbark; French, Quinquina; Italian, China; Spanish, Quina; Portuguese, Quinquina; Russian, Chinchina; Polish, Kwinkwinna; Latin, Cinchona, Cortex Peruvianus. Three principal species of this bark are known in commerce, namely, the pale, the red, and the yellow. The first of these, the original cinchona of Peru, is now become scarce. It is the produce of the Cinchona lancifolia, and is imported in chests, each containing 200 lbs. weight, and carefully covered with skins. It comes in quilled pieces from to 10 inches long, and of various thicknesses. Internally the colour is of a pale fawn or cinnamon hue, but when moistened the bark assumes a pale orange colour. It is nearly odourless when dry, but is very sensibly aromatic while under the process of decoction. The red bark is taken from the Cinchona oblongifolia, which is found growing on the Andes. It is imported in various-sized pieces packed in chests, containing each from 100 to 150 lbs. Its colour is that of a reddish brown; its taste is not so bitter as that of the pale variety, but greatly more astringent. The yellow bark was first brought into use in England about the year 1790: it is obtained from the Cinchona cordifolia, which grows at Quito and Santa Fé. This variety is imported in pieces, some quilled and others flat, of from 8 to 10 inches in length, packed in chests containing from 90 to 100 lbs. each. The colour approaches to that of an orange; it gives out, in decoction, an odour very similar to that of pale bark; its taste is more bitter, but it is not astringent. Its goodness is judged of by the colour. If it loses its orange tint, and takes that of pale yellow, it is not so valuable, and it is still worse when of a dark colour, between red and yellow.

It is said that the native Indians were unacquainted with the medicinal virtues of this bark, and that its efficacy in cases of fever was accidentally discovered by the Jesuits, whence the name, by which it is very generally known, of Jesuits' bark. It was first brought to Europe in 1632, but more than half a century elapsed thereafter before its use became at ail extensive in this quarter of the world. Humboldt states that from 12,000 to 14,000 quintals, or cwts., are annually exported from Peru.

During the three years ending with 1858, the average quantity of tanners' bark imported was 365,000 cwts. annually-duty free. BARK.-Medical Uses of―[CINCHONA.]

BARK-BED, in horticulture, is a bed formed of the spent bark used by tanners, placed in the inside of a brick pit in a glazed house, constructed for forcing, or for the growth of tender plants.

The object of a bark-bed is to produce artificial warmth by the fermentation of the materials of which it consists, and at the same time to keep the atmosphere of the house constantly damp. Gardeners use it for all plants which require what they call bottom heat; that is to say, for all species which are natives of tropical climates, and for pineapples especially; but it is not employed in the cultivation of greenhouse plants, except sometimes for striking their cuttings. [CUTTINGS.]

In constructing a bark bed, the coarsest bark which can be obtained after the tanners have used it should be selected, because it is found that the slowness of the fermentation, and consequently the steadiness of the heat given off, is in proportion to the size of the fragments of bark employed: small tan, broken into minute pieces by machinery, although often the only material to be had, should consequently never be used if it can be avoided. After having been slightly dried by being spread in the sun, the tan is first laid in heaps, covered with mats, until fermentation has commenced; it is then transferred to the brick pit, in which it is finally to remain. Having been lightly but evenly arranged in the pit, and the glass roof of the house having been closed, the tan is left to undergo fermentation; which at first is violent, evolving more heat than any plants could bear. But in a few days it subsides; and when the temperature of the bed has fallen to 96°, it is

in a proper state to receive the pots, which are to be plunged in it. The heat will gradually, but very slowly diminish to 60°, below which it is scarcely desirable, in the opinion of gardeners, that the tan should be retained; but the temperature may a second time be raised to 70° or 80°, by turning the tan over, or fermentation may be further renewed by the addition of a small quantity of yeast. The temperature of the tan is generally judged of by feeling the end of a stick which is thrust into the centre of the bed; but as it is impossible to use so rude a test as this with any accuracy, it is now more customary to employ what is called a Breegazzi's thermometer introduced into the hollow end of a pole, and thus protected from being broken when thrust into the tan. It is, however, found that, after procuring the best kind of material, the heat of a bark-bed cannot be maintained so steadily or so long as is desirable; and it has been recommended to substitute fallen oak-leaves, which can easily be collected in the autumn. These ferment much more slowly than oak-bark, and never acquire so high a temperature as the maximum of that substance; and as they are less expensive, they should always be used when they can be procured. It is, however, to be remembered, that no other leaves than those of the oak, or of some other plant equally abounding in tannin, answer the purpose so well.

Notwithstanding the quantity of heat given out by a bark-bed, it is always found necessary to employ some other mode of warming a house in addition-either by smoke-flues, or hot-water, or steampipes; and this being the case, and such contrivances being of themselves sufficient to raise the atmosphere to any temperature that can be required, a question has been started, whether a bark-bed is really of any use. We have already stated that the object of a bark-bed is to produce artificial warmth by fermentation, and moisture in the atmosphere by parting with its water. So far as these objects go, they can certainly be abundantly and more efficiently supplied by other means: the warmth by flues or water-pipes, and the moisture by open tanks, or by steam-cocks, or by watering the floors and walls of a hot-house. But there still remains what gardeners call bottom-heat-that is to say, a steady temperature around roots somewhat higher than that of the atmosphere surrounding the stem and leaves. All experience shows that this is of the first importance in gardening, as indeed was to be expected when it is considered that the mean temperature of that part of the soil in which plants grow is universally something higher in nature than that of the air itself; so that in all cases plants are stimulated by some amount of bottom-heat. Thus, even near London, the average temperature of garden-ground at two feet below the surface is in March 41° 57 (Fahr.), while the mean temperature of the atmosphere in that month is only 40°49. See Lindley's Theory and Practice of Horticulture,' 2nd ed. book ii., chap. i., where this subject is fully discussed.

BARLEY is a grain too generally known to require a minute description. It is readily distinguished from other grain by its pointed extremities, and by the rough appearance of its outer skin, which is the corolla of the flower closely enveloping the seed, and, in most varieties, adhering strongly to it.

Barley belongs to the family of the Gramine: its botanical characters are described in the article HORDEUM, in NAT. HIST. DIV.

According to the most ancient authors, barley formed a principal part of the food of man in the early ages, and it continues to do so at this day, in many countries where the progress of agriculture and the increase of wealth have not yet enabled the inhabitants to exchange the coarser barley loaves for the more palatable and nutritious wheaten bread, and where the soil is not well adapted to rye, or the climate to maize.

Of all the cultivated grains, barley is perhaps that which comes to perfection in the greatest variety of climates, and is consequently found over the greatest extent of the habitable world. It bears the heat and drought of tropical regions, and ripens in the short summers of those which verge on the frigid zone. In genial climates, such as Egypt, Barbary, and the south of Spain, two crops of barley may be reaped in the same year, one in spring from seed sown the preceding autumn, and one in autumn from a spring sowing. This explains a passage in Exodus (ix. 31), where the effect of the hail is mentioned which desolated Egypt, in consequence of the refusal of Pharaoh to let the children of Israel depart: "The flax and the barley were smitten, for the barley was in the ear, and the flax was bolled; but the wheat and the rye were not smitten, for they were not come up." Commentators agree that this event happened in the month of March; the first crop of barley was therefore nearly ripe, and the flax ready to pull: but the wheat and the rye sown in spring were not yet sufficiently advanced in growth to be injured by the hail.

Agricultural writers in general have distinguished the different species of barley, either from the time of sowing them, into winter barley and spring barley, or, from the numbers of rows of grains in the ears, into six-rowed, feur-rowed, and two-rowed, or flat barley. Another distinction may be made, between those which have the corolla strongly adhering to the seed, and those in which it separates from it, leaving the seed naked, from which circumstance these are called naked barleys. Without entering into any discussion whether these differences are sufficient to constitute distinct species, or are to be considered as varieties produced by climate, soil, or cultivation, we shall only observe that those kinds which are hardier, and will bear the

winters of our climate, may also with success be sown in spring, as is the case with the Scotch bere or bigg. There seem, in fact, to be only two very distinct species of barley generally cultivated: one which produces three perfect flowers, and as many seeds united at the base, at each joint of the rachis, or middle of the ear, alternately on each side (fig. 1), and another, in which the middle floret is perfect, and the two others barren, forming a flat ear, with only one row of grains on each side, as our common spring barley (fig. 2). The first species Fig. 1.

has sometimes the middle floret small or abortive, and consequently only four rows of grains, giving the ear a square appearance; but that this is only an occasional deviation is proved by its returning to the perfect ear with six rows, in rich soils, and under proper cultivation.

In some varieties of both kinds the seeds stand more apart from each other, and at a greater angle with the rachis; the ear is also shorter, giving it the appearance of a bat or fan, whence it has been called Battledore Barley; it is also known by the name of Sprat Barley. In others the corolla separates from the seed when ripe, and the awns fall off: these are the naked barleys. Each of these has been in repute at different times, and is worthy of the attention and careful cultivation of the practical and experimental agriculturist.

Winter barley is mostly sown in those countries where the winters are mild, and the springs dry, as in the south of France, Italy, and Spain, or in those where the snow lies deep all the winter, and where the sun is powerful immediately after the melting of the snow in spring, as is the case in parts of Russia, Poland, and some parts of North America. In most climates, where the winter consists of alternate frosts and thaws, and the early part of spring is usually wet, as is the case in England, Scotland, and Ireland, the young barley is too apt to suffer from these vicissitudes, and the spring-sown barley gives the more certain prospect of a good crop but the grain of the latter is seldom so heavy as that which has stood the winter, and, being harvested later, it interferes with the wheat harvest, which is an inconvenience.

The winter-sown barley is generally of the six-rowed sort, of which the bere or bigg is an inferior variety, though, being hardy, and of rapid growth, it is well suited to exposed situations and inferior soils. The Siberian barley, a variety of which, with naked seeds, has been highly extolled by foreign agricultural writers, especially by Thaer, under the name of Hordeum cœleste, seems to be a superior sort in rich

b

a An ear of common, or Norfolk, spring barley.

b The same, with the grain partly pulled off.

d The single grain, with the remnant of the two abortive flowers.

stems and leaves, which make it by far the best sort to sow for the purpose of green food for cattle and sheep, and, if fed off early, the roots will, in a rich soil, shoot out an abundance of fresh stems, and produce a good crop of grain at harvest.

The barley most commonly cultivated in England is that which has only two rows. It is almost universally sown in spring. The varieties produced by difference of soil and cultivation, as well as by seed occasionally brought from other countries, are innumerable; they have been divided by most agricultural writers into early and late sorts; but this is a distinction which is not very accurate. It is well known that hot gravelly soils bring any grain to perfection in less time than the stronger and colder soils, and that the produce acquires from the soil in which it grew a disposition to ripen earlier or later. This property it retains for a few seasons, by some modification of its vegetating power, to which, for want of a better name, that of habit may be given, being analogous to the alterations produced on living animals by habit. Thus seed sown repeatedly in a light dry soil becomes early ripe, and that sown on the heavy moist land late ripe, although originally the same. The early grain is always less heavy than the late; and from these circumstances the experienced cultivator of barley chooses his seed from such land as may modify the habit produced by his own, giving him a crop with as heavy a grain as his soil can produce, and within a convenient period.

The common, or Norfolk, spring barley, so called because it is the principal sort cultivated in that county, has a moderate-sized ear, containing from ten to fifteen seeds on each side, on an average (fig. 2). The straw is not very long, and makes good fodder for cattle in winter. Some prefer the long-eared, which contains from twelve to twenty seeds in a row, but it has a weaker straw, and is subject to be beaten down by rains from the weight of the ear. Particular varieties have been in great repute at different times, when first introduced, and then seem to have degenerated and lost their superiority. Of this kind is the Moldavian barley. This barley was much sought after some years ago; and of late years the Chevalier barley (fig. 3), so called from the gentleman who first brought it into notice. It is said, that having observed an ear of barley in his field greatly superior to the rest, he carefully saved the seed, and cultivated it in his garden, till he had a sufficient quantity to sow it in a field. It has since been extremely multiplied and diffused through the country. Some eminent maltsters and brewers have declared, that it contains more saccharine matter than any other sort; and the trials hitherto made have convinced many agriculturists that it is not only heavier in the grain, but also

more productive. In 1832 Mr. Coke, of Norfolk, who was always foremost in all agricultural experiments and improvements, sowed a con

Fig. 3.

but because, when deprived of its skin and made into pot barley, it swells by boiling, and makes a good substitute for rice in broths and Fig. 4.

Chevalier Barley.

siderable portion of land with this barley, and the result is said to have been perfectly satisfactory. In the year 1833 the writer of this article sowed two acres of Chevalier barley in the same field with some of the best of the common barley. The soil was poor light sand, but in good order, and very clean. The produce of the whole was nearly the same, four quarters per acre; but the Chevalier barley weighed 57 lbs. per bushel, while the common weighed only 52. This gives the farmer an advantage of nearly ten per cent. The sample was very fine, and the whole that he could spare was eagerly purchased by his neighbours for seed at his own price. It is long in the ear and very plump, and the plants tiller* so much, that half a bushel may be saved per acre in the seed. This is probably owing to its grains being all perfect, and vegetating rapidly. The straw, like that of the other long-eared barleys, appears weak in proportion to the ear; it is said also to be harder, and not so palatable to cattle. These are circum. stances which experience alone can ascertain. That hitherto it has a decided superiority over the common sorts, no one who has tried it fairly in well-prepared land seems to deny; but unless great care be taken in cultivating picked parcels for seed, selecting the finest ears and plumpest grain, it will probably share the fate of its predecessors degenerate, and lose its reputation. This contingency, though anticipated many years ago, has not, however, yet (1859) befallen the Chevalier barley: it is still held to be among the best varieties we possess. There are many additional sorts of two-rowed barley deserving the attention of growers, under the different circumstances of soil and climate in which this grain is cultivated, as the Dunlop, the Annat, the so-called Italian; and other varieties might be named. The Annat barley and Italian are good, stiff-strawed sorts, standing well where other kinds would be laid; the Dunlop is an early kind. A black, two-rowed barley, later than the kinds just named, but, in the instances in which we have known it tried, remarkable for its good malting quality, may also be named. There is also a black, six-rowed barley, not however of greater merit for late cold climates than the hardy bere commonly grown in Ireland and the highlands of Scotland. The Sprat, or Battledore, Barley (fig. 4), also called Putney Barley, from having been once extensively cultivated near that place, is in much esteem in Germany. It is the Hordeum Zeocriton; also called German rice, or rice barley, not from any resemblance it bears to rice,

A plant is said to tiller when it produces several stems from the crown of the root (fig. 5, a) at the surface of the soil.

Sprat (or Battledore) Barley.

puddings. It is not much cultivated in England at present, but it is hardy and productive, and grows well in stronger soils, especially the marly, and is well worth the attention of experimental agriculturists. It certainly was once in good repute in this country, and may suit particular soils and situations.

Might not the cultivation of the various kinds of grain purposely for seed be more generally practised, and form a distinct branch of agriculture? And would not this be well adapted to small occupiers and cottagers, who may have had allotments of land given or let to them, to enable them to live by their own labour and industry, without parochial aid? Thus the good qualities of any grain might be perpetuated, new varieties might be produced, and the defects corrected by cultivation, as is the case with horticultural plants.

All kinds of barley require nearly the same soil, and whether they are sown before winter or in spring, the ground must be well prepared, and the soil pulverised by repeated ploughings and harrowings, or by the operation of those instruments which have been invented for this especial purpose; in order that the fibres of the roots, which are very minute and delicate, may penetrate the soil easily in search of nourishment.

The cultivation of all the varieties is nearly the same, and is best understood in the counties of Essex, Norfolk, and Suffolk, in which a great quantity of excellent barley is produced and malted for the London market. In the light soils, barley is invariably sown after turnips, which have been fed off the land by sheep, or been drawn to feed the cattle in winter in the yards or stalls, which, by means of an abundance of litter, make a vast supply of manure ready for the next turnip crop. When the land has been properly prepared for turnips [TURNIPS], and well manured, and the turnips have been carefully hoed, so that no weeds of any kind remain, it is then in the finest state for barley as soon as the turnips are off. Turnips require a wellpulverised soil, and so does barley. If the soil is very dry and light, the sheep folded upon it consolidate the surface by their treading, and enrich it by their urine and dung. As soon as a part of the field is cleared and the hurdles removed, the land is ploughed with a shallow furrow, and thus the sheep and the ploughs are often seen in the same field succeeding each other, that no time may be lost in turning in and covering the dung, which is very volatile, and would soon lose much of its qualities by the action of the sun and winds. This is sufficient preparation for the seed, which may now be sown or drilled without delay.

In heavier soils, which have become tenacious by the winter's rains, or on which the sheep have been folded in wet weather, the soil may not be in a sufficiently divided state to receive the seed with advantage. In that case it must be worked and stirred till a proper tilth is produced: this is a great loss and hindrance, by increasing the

labour at the busy time of sowing, but it cannot be avoided; the experience and judgment of the cultivator must direct him as to the best mode of proceeding, ever bearing in mind that it is an irretrievable error to sow barley on land not properly pulverised, and that, if it is once fine and dry, a little delay in the sowing is of much less importance. It can scarcely be too dry on the surface at the time of sowing, at least in this climate; and, provided a few showers supply the moisture necessary to make it vegetate and spring up, there is no great danger to be apprehended from too dry weather. Barley has been known to grow and ripen, when not a single shower refreshed the soil from the day it was sown to that in which it was reaped.

When the soil is of a strong, compact nature, but fertile, and turnips cannot be well fed off the land, nor taken off in carts, on account of the damage which would be done to the soft moist soil in winter, by the tread of the sheep, or the wheels of the carts, recourse is sometimes had to a long fallow during eighteen months, from harvest till the second spring, giving the land the benefit of two winters' frosts, a tillage in autumn, in summer, and in two springs. Thus the land is perfectly cleaned, and, if properly managed, quite mellow and fine; and the barley sown on such land always produces a crop, not only abundant, but of the best quality; so that the lines of Virgil in his Georgics,' i. 48, whether literally applicable or not, are verified in the result:

"Illa seges demum votis respondet avari

Agricolæ, bis quæ solem, bis frigora sensit."

This practice has been alluded to in the article ARABLE LAND, and is common in the heavier soils of Essex and Suffolk. The loss of time by so long a fallow is amply repaid by the state of the land and the subsequent crops. It was once the universal custom to sow wheat after a fallow, and barley after wheat, unless clover was sown with the wheat, which was the first step to improvement; but after the barley another fallow became necessary. By sowing barley after the fallow, the land is much more perfectly cleaned, and the clover sown with the barley is the best preparation for the wheat, which may be succeeded by beans, and if these are well manured and properly hoed, another crop of wheat may be taken before a second fallow is necessary. By comparing the probable produce of the two different rotations, the advantage will be evident in favour of that which begins with barley. Fig. 5.

Fig. 5.*

sufficiently free from weeds. But the Trifolium incarnatum, lately introduced from the south of France, which succeeds well in our climate, would be admirably adapted to be sown on the barley stubble: the land being slightly ploughed or scarified immediately after harvest, and the seed rolled in. It will grow so rapidly in spring as to smother all seed weeds, and will give a heavy green crop to be cut for horses and cattle early in May, and excellent winter fodder if made into hay. [TRIFOLIUM in NAT. HIST. DIV.; CLOVER.] The quantity of barley sown formerly was four or five bushels per acre: but, if the land is duly prepared and the seed good, from two to three bushels is an ample allowance, especially if sown by the drilling machine, which it always ought to be; for if the land be too rough to allow of drilling, it is scarcely fit to sow barley in, and oats will be a more advantageous grain.

The proper time for sowing barley depends much on the season and the state of the land. The best practical rule is, to sow as soon in March as the ground is dry. Earlier sowings may sometimes succeed well, but in this climate cold wet weather often prevails in the end of February, and this is by no means favourable to young plants of barley. The early-sown crops are, however, in general the heaviest, especially of the sort which ripen later they require less seed, having more time to tiller before the hot weather draws up the stems. There are, however, seasons when the later-sown crops are the best: a good rule is, to sow a quick-growing sort when the sowing is unavoidably deferred, and in this case more seed must also be allowed. The depth at which the seed should be deposited depends on the nature of the soil and on the season. Winter barley need only be slightly covered, and will tiller astonishingly in good light soils. The examination of two roots, one of which (fig. 5) proceeded from a grain dropped on the surface of the soil, and the other (fig. 6) buried one or two inches under the surface, clearly shows the difference. In the first, the crown (a), from which the stems tiller, has the seed still adhering to it; in the other, they are separated by a strong tough ligament (c). This forms two distinct centres, from which the roots spread; and, in very light soils and dry seasons, the roots, springing immediately from the seed, are less exposed to be dried up. But in stiff soils the seed buried deep may have much difficulty in germinating, the air not having sufficient access, and the first shoot, which forms the ligament (c), not being able to pierce the compact soil above Fig. 6.

Fig. 6.*

5. A root of self-sown barley in a rich light soil.

5* The same in a poor stiff soil.

In some particular cases, however, when a very dry autumn allows the wheat stubble to be ploughed and well cleaned before winter, and several ploughings and harrowings can be given in spring, barley may

6. A root of barley in a good soil. 6*. The same in a poor soil.

ARTS AND SCI. DIV. VOL. I,

3 N

give a sufficient hold of the land by the roots to avoid the danger of lodging. It is of consequence that all the seeds be deposited at a uniform depth, to ensure their shoots rising at the same time: for where some rise earlier and some later, it is impossible to reap the whole in good order; some of the ears will be too green, while others are shedding the seed from being too ripe. This is one reason why the drilled crops are, in general, so much more regular in their growth than the broadcast. After sowing barley, it is useful to pass a light roller over the land, across the ridges, if there are any, to press the earth on the seed, and prevent too great evaporation of the moisture. When the plants begin to tiller, another rolling, and in some cases a slight harrowing, to loosen the surface and thin out the plants where they grow too close, is very useful. This also is the best time to sow clover and grass seeds, if not done with the first rolling. Barley is not usually hoed, because the land should be perfectly clear of weeds and their seeds, before it is sown, and because clover and grass seeds are usually sown either with the barley or immediately after it; but if hoeing is thought necessary to loosen the soil, instead of merely harrowing it, the clover or grass-seeds are sown at the last hoeing. After this no attention is required to the crop till harvest, unless docks or thistles should make their appearance, which must then be carefully pulled up. The practice of sowing clover, rye grass, or other seeds, with the barley, is almost universal, and is considered as one of the great modern improvements in agriculture. There is no doubt a great advantage in having a profitable and improving crop to succeed the barley, without further tillage; and clover prepares the land admirably for wheat. Still there are some doubts whether this be profitable in all cases. There are seasons when the clover materially injures the barley by its luxuriance; and, in wet seasons at harvest, it is very difficult to dry the straw sufficiently, mixed as it is with the succulent stems of the clover, or to prevent its heating in the stack. The clover, as far as the barley is concerned, may be looked upon as a weed, which, like all other weeds, must take a part of the nourishment from the crop, and check its tillering. If the clover is sown late among the barley, the danger is less. It will not be able to grow so high as to do much injury, but the fear of losing the plant of clover makes most farmers prefer sowing it soon after the barley.

In Flanders, clover is seldom, or never, sown with barley, but chiefly with rye but they sow a species of white carrot instead, in the sandy soils. These push out very little of the green top, but shoot their fibres downwards, which form the rudiments of the carrot. After harvest, the ground is well harrowed, and watered with liquid manure. The carrots, which could scarcely be observed above ground, soon spring up, and a good crop is secured before winter, extremely useful for feeding cattle and swine, and greatly increasing the urine of cows and bullocks, the favourite manure for light soils in that country.

As soon as the ears of the barley droop, it should be reaped. In the case of wheat it is well to reap before the grain has fully hardened in the ear-for the last stage in the process of ripening converts a portion of the farinaceous contents of the seed into a woody husk, comparatively useless as food. The quantity of bran in a fully ripened grain of wheat is greater than if it had been harvested earlier. In the case of oats again, it is generally well to reap even before the green hue of the crop has entirely gone, for if the plant be allowed thoroughly to dry and ripen standing, the seeds will be extremely liable to be shaken out by wind. In barley, on the other hand, which has to be converted into malt, the quality of which depends on the germinating process being carried on uniformly throughout the mass, it is necessary that the grain be all of one uniform stage of ripeness when cut, and this is generally only to be ensured by taking care that it be all dead ripe. When therefore the ears have all turned down, it may be reaped. This is usually done by mowing it with a scythe, having a hoop, or an appendage called a cradle, fixed to it, so as to lay the swathe regularly. The Haynault scythe, a short, broad scythe used with one hand, while a light hook is held in the other to lay the straw even, so as to be readily tied up into sheaves, is another good tool; and the heavy "bagging" hook is often used for the same purpose; but the horsedrawn reaping machine is now rapidly gaining its way, and will no doubt soon, to a great extent, supersede manual labour, so far as the mere cutting is concerned. [HARVEST.] Binding into sheaves is a great advantage; much less corn is shed, which, in the common method of raking into heaps, often amounts to more than would fully sow the same extent of land. The sheaves set up on end are in less danger from the weather, and when the stack is built, all the ears may be laid inward and much grain saved, which, if on the outside, would soon be the prey of birds: smaller stacks may be made, and the danger of heating entirely avoided. The stacks should be built on frames, supported by stone or cast-iron pillars, with flat caps on them to keep out vermin; and, in large stacks, it is useful to have a kind of open cage in the middle, to allow the admission of air to the centre. This dries the grain better than a kiln, and when the stack is properly thatched with straw, the crop may be considered as safe till it is carried into the barn to be thrashed. [HARVEST; FARM.]

In thrashing barley, an extra process has to be adopted in order to break off all the awns close to the grain. A thrashing machine does not accomplish this perfectly by only once passing the straw through the rollers; it is consequently usually put through a second time, especially if it has not been tied into sheaves. But it is generally

necessary, after the barley is thrashed, to effect this by another operation, which is called hummeling, for which purpose several difA simple one consists of a ferent kinds of instruments are used. cylinder composed of small bars of iron, and placed on an axis, which is rolled backwards and forwards over the grain; or, where a thrashing machine is used, a plate of iron, perforated like a nutmeg-grater, is fixed to the inside of the drum in which the beaters revolve, and the awns are effectually broken off by this rough surface. This process is, however, more generally now effected by an addition to the thrashing machine, through which all the grain when separated from the straw is passed, coming under the action of rapidly revolving knives, which break the brittle awn into dust, to be afterwards separated by the blast and riddles of the winnower.

The diseases to which barley is subject while growing are those which attack all other grain-the smut, the burnt ear, blight, and mildew; but it is less liable to these than wheat. The greatest enemy is a wet harvest. It is so apt to germinate with the least continuance of moisture, that even before it is reaped, it often exhibits an ear in full vegetation, every grain having sprouted (see fig.). It is then of little

Premature germination of an ear of barley.

value, and evne when this is checked by dry weather or in the kiln, the grain is so impaired as to be fit only to feed fowls and pigs. A strong plant of clover, by keeping the wet longer about the barley, often contributes to increase this evil, as has been hinted before.

The principal use of barley in this country, and wherever the climate does not permit the vine to thrive, and no wine is made, is to convert it into malt for brewing and distilling. [MALT.] The best and heaviest grain is chosen for this purpose, and, as it must have its germinating power unimpaired, the least discoloration, from rain or heating in the stack, renders it suspected, and consequently not so saleable. It is, however, still fit for being ground into meal, for feeding cattle and pigs, when it is not used for human food; or it may be made into pot-barley by the process of shelling. [BARLEY, POT and PEARL.]

The produce of barley, on land well prepared, is from 30 to 50 bushels, and more, per statute acre, weighing from 45 to 55 lbs. per bushel, according to the quality.

On all good loamy soils barley is a more profitable crop than oats, and is supposed to exhaust the soil less, and of late years (1857-8) the extraordinary prices it has reached have rendered it more profitable than even wheat. On stiff cold clays it does not thrive so well, and there oats are to be preferred. In some districts, where the best barley is grown, the farmers seldom sow oats, and many prefer buying them for their own use, with the additional expense of market and carriage. In Scotland, and some parts of the north of England, oats are in greater request, being the chief food of the labouring classes, and preferred by them to barley, except it be in the form of pot-barley in their broth.

Barley in its green state, especially the Siberian winter barley, makes excellent spring food for milch cows, as is well known to the cowkeepers about London; it comes in early, and greatly increases the milk. It is also very good for horses, provided it be given sparingly at first, as it purges them; but after a little time, when the stomach becomes accustomed to it, it increases their flesh and condition wonderfully, and is much more wholesome than the usual spring physic, as it answers the purpose of gently clearing the intestines, without any risk of irritation. For sheep it is more nourishing than rye, and comes earlier: when fed off quite close in April, it will spring up again, and, on good land, produce a fair crop of grain in August, but in general it is ploughed up as soon as it is fed off, and succeeded by spring tares or turnips.

Barley has always been considered as possessing medicinal virtues; decoctions of it have long been used for the sick, especially in all pulmonary complaints; and with the addition of some vegetable acid, it is extremely grateful in fevers, allaying thirst, and giving such a degree of nourishment as is indispensable, without exciting the circulation.