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.
Of all the cultivated grains, barley is per-. haps that which comes to perfection in the greatest variety of climates, and is conse quently found over the greatest extent of the habitable world. It bears the heat and drought of tropical regions, and ripens iu 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.
, Winter barley is mostly sown in those cowl ; tries 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 frost and thaws, and the early part of the 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.
The barley most commonly cultivated in England is that which has only two rows. It is almost universally sown in spring. 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.
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. The best practical rule is, to sow as soon after the middle of March as the ground is dry. 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.
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. 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.
The produce of barley on land well pre pared is from 30 to 50 bushels, and more, per statute acre, weighing from 45 to 55 lbs. per bushel, according to the quality. It is said to contain 65 per cent. of nutritive matter ; wheat contains 78 per cent. A bushel of barley weighing 50 lbs. will therefore con tain about 32 lbs. of nutriment; while a bushel of wheat weighing 60 lbs. contains 47 lbs. Good oats weighing 40 lbs. contain about 21 lbs. of nutritive substance ; so that the comparative value of wheat, barley, and oats, in feeding cattle, may be represented by 47, 32, and 24, the measure being the same.
1,389,858 quarters of barley were imported in 1840; average price 27s. 9d.