Page:A Practical Treatise on Brewing (4th ed.).djvu/32

16 gas to decompose water and set oxygen at liberty, promotes the germination of seeds.

The late experiments of Saussure (1834) prove that in germination nitrogen is always absorbed.

The best barleys for malting are those called mellow in contradistinction to those which are hard or steely. The mellow barleys, generally speaking, are thin-skinned, and when the pickle is divided, either by the teeth or a pen-knife, the kernel is white and floury. The steely barley may also be thin-skinned, but when divided in the same way, the kernel has a bluish cast something like rice. This barley, although equally heavy, or even heavier than the other, will never produce such good malt, nor will the beer brewed from it have the same mellowness or richness of flavour as that produced from mellow malt.

Care should also be taken, that corn of different weights and from different soils, should be kept separate, so as that each different quality may be used alone. The heavier barley will generally require to be longer under water than the other, and when mixed will not grow equally on the floors, (an objection usually attending shipped or foreign barley), thus preventing the possibility of making fine malt. It will also be found, that cargoes of barley will never make such fine malt as that bought directly from the farmers. The reason is obvious—the different qualities cannot be kept separate.