Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 02.djvu/592

BAR-LE-DUC. foundries, and confectioneries. Bar-le-Duc dates from the Sixth Century, and was formerly the residence of the Dukes of Bar. Population, in 1890, 18,249.

BARLETTA, biir-let'ta (anciently, Bardoli, later Barolum). An island port, connected with the mainland bv a bridge, on the Adriatic, in Southern Italy (Map: Italy, L 6). It is on the Bologna-Brindisi Railway, 35 miles northwest of Bari, with which it is also connected by a street railway. It is surrounded by ancient turreted walls, and has spacious squares and broad streets. The houses are high, with flat terraced roofs, and built mostly of sandstone. There are many beautiful Byzantine churches, among them the Cathedral of Sante Maria Maggiore, in which Ferdinand of Aragon was crowned. Interesting palaces are that of unhappy King Manfred, now turned into a convent, and the great castle constructed under Charles V. On the large square, facing the harbor, stands the celebrated bronze statue, 15 feet high, found in the sea and evidently of Roman workmanship, said to be a likeness of Heraclius, or Constantine, or Theodosius. In another square is a monument to the statesman Massimo d'Azeglio, who died in 1866. The inner harbor is accessible to small vessels only; but there is good anchorage for larger vessels in the roadstead which is protected by a mole, running out into the sea, on which stands a lighthouse. Barletta has regular steamboat communication with the other Adriatic ports, and exports grain, wine, oil, almonds, licorice, wool, and large quantities of salt. In 1503, during the war between Louis XII. and Ferdinand the Catholic, when Barletta was besieged by the French, there took place outside the wall, according to all the rules of chivalry, the famous combat between 13 French knights and 13 Italian knights, led by Bayard, sans peur et sans reproche, and Prospero Colonna respectively. Nine miles west of Barletta, on the Ofanto, is Canne, the ancient Cannæ, where in B.C. 210 Hannibal inflicted a disastrous defeat on the Romans. Population, in 1881, 33,179; in 1901 (commune), 42,022.

BAR'LEY (AS. bærlic, from bere, Engl. bear, barley + leac, a leek, plant), Hordeum vulgare. One of the most ancient of cultivated plants, of the natural order Gramineæ, or grasses. Its cultivation is mentioned in the Bible. It was grown by the ancient Egyptians, the Greeks, and the Romans, and according to the Waiki, one of the sacred books of the Chinese, it was cultivated in China twenty centuries before the Christian Era. It has been found in the earliest Egyptian monuments and in the remains of the lake-dwellings of Switzerland. Barley is foimd growing wild in western temperate Asia, and this region is considered as its original home. The range of latitude in which barley is cultivated is quite large, and practically equals the width of the temperate zones. It is grown as far north as Alaska, Iceland, and Norway, even reaching latitude 70° N., and it is also grown in Algeria, Egypt, India, and other countries with an almost equatorial climate. In Switzerland and Chile it ripens at an elevation of 5000 feet above the level of the sea, but it rarely ripens on the plateaus of Peru, which have an elevation of 9000 feet.

The preparation of the soil for barley does not differ materially from that for wheat. The land should be plowed fairly deep and thoroughly pulverized to form a well-prepared seed-bed. The soil should be porous, well drained, and of good fertility. Barley grows best on sandy and calcareous loams in northern latitudes, but in southern countries soils containing a little more clay give the best results. The plant has a comparatively short growing period, and the tilth and fertility of the soil should be such as to enable it to make a rapid growth. An excess of nitrogenous manures in the soil is injurious. When barnyard manure is applied directly to the crop it should be well rotted. The best method, however, is to apply it to a previous crop, preferably corn. For illustration, see colored plate.

In the United States and Canada, as well as in the greater portion of Europe, barley is sown in spring, and in the countries along the Mediterranean Sea it is sown in the fall. It is, however, also grown to some extent as a winter annual in the Southern States. The quantity of seed sown per acre varies from 2 to 3 bushels. Barley germinates at about the same temperature as wheat, but the young plant is more susceptible to cold than wheat; and a light frost, shortly after it is up, is often injurious. In the regions of the United States where spring wheat is grown, it is a common custom to sow it after wheat and before oats are sown. It is generally sown broadcast, but many farmers, especially in England, prefer to sow it in drills from 8 to 10 inches apart. The crop is now generally harvested with the self-binder. As soon as the sheaves are dry enough, they are stacked or hauled into barns to prevent exposure to rains or damp weather, which would injure the color of the grain and materially reduce its value. Barley ripens earlier than spring wheat, and is harvested usually just before that crop. When grown for malting purposes, it should not be harvested before it is thoroughly ripe.

The different varieties of barley, considered by many botanists as all belonging to one species, comprise four distinct types, namely, Two-rowed Barley, Hordeum distichon; Four-rowed Barley, Hordeum vulgare; Six-rowed Barley, Hordeum hexastichon; and Naked Barley, Hordeum distichon nudum. These different types have been considered as distinct species. The varieties of barley grown in the United States are generally of the six-rowed type, while in Europe the two-rowed type predominates. The finest varieties of malting barley, including Chevalier barley and the various selections made from it, which are the most popular for malting purposes, belong to the two-rowed type. The four-rowed varieties, frequently called bere or bigg in England, were formerly extensively used for malt, but are now being more and more replaced by the two-rowed varieties. The characters which determine a good malting barley are composition, capacity, and energy of germination, plumpness and weight of grains, mealiness, proportion of husk (glumes adhering to grain), color, smell, and absence of mutilated kernels. In malting, barleys of a high starch content and a low protein content are sought. Quick and even germination produces the best malt, hence the brewer's interest in the state of ripeness and the absence of injured grains, conditions which directly affect germination. Plumpness and weight of the grains and the proportion of husk give indications as to a high or a low percentage of starch. Mealiness is