BARLEY, IT9rdeunt, a genus of grasses, to which belong one of the most extensively cultivated kinds of grain. The genus is distinguished by spiked inflorescence, three spikelets being always situated upon each tooth of the raehis, of which sometimes only the middle one is fertile, and sometimes all the three, so that in the former case the fruit-bearing spike is two-rowed, and in the latter case, six-rowed; the glumes are two, containing a single floret; the palem two, the outer one awned; and the seed is sur rounded by the palete. The species of this genus are almost all annual, although some varieties of B. are sown in the end of autumn, and the cultivation of them extends over the winter. B. is mentioned in the books of Moses and other books of the Old Testa ment, also by the Greek and Roman writers, and has been extensively cultivated from remote antiquity. Beer made from it was known to the Greeks, the Egyptians, and the ancient Germans. The cultivation of it appears to have extended from Italy northwards in Europe, but it is better adapted than any other grain to the most northern regions, some of its varieties being cultivated with advantage where the climate is too cold, or the summer too short, for any other cereal crop; and it is deemed probable that its native country is northern or central Asia. It is capable, however, of being cultivated in very warm climates, and extends over a wider climatic range than any of the other grains. B.-meal is used for bread in the northern Europe, but in other parts of the world, B. is more generally converted into malt for the making of beer (see BnEw LNG), or merely deprived of its outer skin, and so used as an article of food. B. intended for brewing is first subjected to the process of malting, by which it is converted into MALT (q.v.). B. simply deprived of the husk (palea) in a mill is called pot B. or Scotch B. 'When the pellicle of the seed is also removed, and the seed itself rounded and polished, it is pcarl B. :What is sometimes called patent B., is a farina obtained by grind ing pearl B., and differs from B.-meal in being qUite free from IL degree of acridity which the latter derives from the integuments of the seed.
It is doubtful if this grain is produced by more than one species, or whether what have been described as distinct species by botanists, are not really mere varieties, 'the result of long cultivation. H. vulgare is usually distinguished as having the grains dis posed in four rows; II. hezastichon, as having them in six rows; and II. distielion, as having the lateral spikelets abortive, and the. grains, therefore, in two rows. But the lower part of the spike in the varieties ranked under B. vulgare is often six-rowed, and
only the upper part four-rowed, and in rich soils, a tendency to resume the six rowed form is otherwise manifest. Nor are the kinds known as naked B., in which the seed separates readily from the palete, to be looked upon as more distinct... The four-rowed or six-rowed varieties are 'generally coarser, but more productive -than the two-rowed; and some of them, often called BEAR or BIGG, are regarded as most suitable for exposed situations and inferior Soils. .A kind with naked seeds, called Siberian B. (II. ceded-43 of some writers), is extensively cultivated in some parts of Europe, and its straw is regarded as affording a richer food or cattle than that of most other kinds. The Nepaul or Einletlaya B., another variety with naked seeds, and further characterized' by the irregular manner in which the grains are placed in the spike., palm three-lobed at the end, and very short awns—and which is therefore regarded by sonic botanists as a distinct species (H. trifurcatum or IL Aegiceres) has been recommended as particularly adapted for cold mountainous regions, yielding good crops in the flimalaya at an elevation of 14,000 ft. above the level of the sea. Of the two-rowed B. there are many varieties, of which the common or early English B:, the Italian B. and the toheralier B. are among the most esteemed, the latter being in particu lar demand for the brewing of the finest ales. It takes its name from M. Chevalier, who introduced it. The Sprat or Battledore B. (H. zeocriton of many botanists) is also two rowed, but is distinguished by the grains standing out from the spike, their awns spread ing very widely. It is sometimes called German rice, as it swells by boiling in the way that rice does, and for some purposes forms a good substitute for it. It is scarcely cul tivated in Britain, but is in much esteem in Germany, and succeeds well in the Alps at an elevation of 3360 ft.
Three species of hordcvm are natives of Britain, of which one (//. murinvm), a small grass, is pretty common on waste-grounds, especially in England, and is apt to prove troublesome by its long awns causing inflammation in the mouths of cattle. Still more injurious in this way the North American II, jubatum, or squirrel's tail. Another MEADOW B. or MEADOW B.-GnAss (IT. pratense), frequent in meadows in England, is reckoned a good .pasture grass. H. buThosum, a native of the s. of Europe, and n. of Africa, is cultivated in Britain for herbage, of which it yields a large quantity, much relished by cattle, and particularly by horses. Several species are natives of North America.