FREE BOOKS

Author's List




PREV.   NEXT  
|<   274   275   276   277   278   279   280   281   282   283   284   285   286   287   288   289   290   291   292   293   294   295   296   297   298  
299   300   301   302   303   304   305   306   307   308   309   310   311   312   313   314   315   316   317   318   319   320   321   322   323   >>   >|  
ter purpose the hard, somewhat flinty grains are preferable, and they are prepared by grinding off the outer cuticle which forms "pot barley." When the attrition is carried further, so that the grain is reduced to small round pellets, it is termed "pearl barley." Patent barley is either pot or pearl barley reduced to flour. Under the name _decoctum hordei_, a preparation of barley is included in the [v.03 p.0406] British Pharmacopoeia, which is of value as a demulcent and emollient drink in febrile and inflammatory disorders. _Cultivation_.--Apart from the growth-habits of the plant itself, the consideration that chiefly determines the routine of barley cultivation is the demand on the part of the maltster for uniformity of sample. Less care is required in its cultivation when it is intended for feeding live-stock. It is essential that the grains on the maltster's floor should germinate simultaneously, hence at the time of reaping, the whole crop must be as nearly as possible in the same stage of maturity. On rich soils the crop is liable to grow too rapidly and yield a coarse, uneven sample, consequently the best barley is grown on light, open and preferably calcareous soils, while if the condition of the soil is too high it is often reduced by growing wheat before the barley. Barley (see AGRICULTURE, _Crops and Cropping_) is a rapidly-growing and shallow-rooted plant. The upper layer of the soil must therefore be free from weeds, finely pulverized and stocked with a readily-available supply of nutriment. In most rotations barley is grown after turnips, or some other "cleaning" crop, with or without the interposition of a wheat crop. The roots are fed off by sheep during autumn and early winter, after which the ground is ploughed to a depth of 3 or 4 in. only in order not to put the layer of soil fertilized by the sheep beyond reach of the plant. The ground is then left unworked and open to the crumbling influence of frost till towards the end of winter, when it is stirred with the cultivator followed by the harrows, or in some cases ploughed with a shallow furrow. The seed, which should be plump, light in colour, with a thin skin covered by fine wrinkles, is sown in March and early April[1] at the rate of from 8 to 12 pecks to the acre and lightly harrowed in. As even distribution at a uniform depth is necessary, the drill is preferred to the broadcast-seeder for barley sowing. In early districts seeding may take pla
PREV.   NEXT  
|<   274   275   276   277   278   279   280   281   282   283   284   285   286   287   288   289   290   291   292   293   294   295   296   297   298  
299   300   301   302   303   304   305   306   307   308   309   310   311   312   313   314   315   316   317   318   319   320   321   322   323   >>   >|  



Top keywords:

barley

 

reduced

 
maltster
 

sample

 

cultivation

 
winter
 

ground

 

shallow

 

rapidly

 

ploughed


growing

 

grains

 
flinty
 

purpose

 
autumn
 
interposition
 
fertilized
 

cleaning

 

pulverized

 

stocked


grinding

 

finely

 
readily
 

turnips

 

preferable

 

rotations

 
supply
 

nutriment

 

prepared

 

unworked


lightly

 

harrowed

 

broadcast

 

seeder

 

sowing

 

districts

 

preferred

 
distribution
 

uniform

 

wrinkles


stirred

 

cultivator

 
crumbling
 
influence
 

harrows

 

covered

 

colour

 
furrow
 

seeding

 

cuticle