Page:Willich, A. F. M. - The Domestic Encyclopædia (Vol. 1, 1802).djvu/193

Rh species being planted close to each other, in a common garden soil, grew briskly, and spread with no less than one hundred and thirteen stalks, which almost uniformly produced long ears: these contained the surprizing number of two thousand five hundred and thirty-four grains, of which two thousand two hundred and five were perfectly ripe and sound, but the remaining three hundred and twenty-nine were of inferior size and weight. According to this computation, one bushel of barley, in a rich and mellow soil, might occupy in planting, at least, twenty acres!

We presume that the following additional observations on the culture of this valuable grain, made by a Norfolk farmer, will not be unacceptable to the practical reader. The best soil, in general, is that which is dry and healthy, rather light than stiff, and yet of sufficient tenacity to retain the moisture. On such land, the grain acquires the best colour and body, is the most nimble in the hand, and has the thinnest rind; qualities which eminently recommend it to the maltster. But, if the land be poor, it should be kept dry and warm; in which case it will often bear better corn than richer land in a cold and wet situation.

The best seed is of a pale colour and brightish cast, without any deep redness or black tinge at the tail. A slight shrivelling of the rind proves it to have a thin skin, and that it has sweated in the mow; both being favourable circumstances. As this grain will grow coarser every succeeding year, it should never be sown for two successive seasons on the same soil.

Sprinkling a little soot over the water in which seed-barley is to be steeped, has been of great service, by securing it from the depredations of insects. In very dry seasons, barley that has been wetted for malting, and begins to sprout, will come up sooner, and produce as good a crop as any other. If sown after a fallow, three times ploughing is necessary. On lands well manured, clover may be sown with barley; the former of which, after harvest, affords good fodder during the following winter, as well as from the next spring to July; when the land should be fallowed till the succeeding spring, and again sown with barley and clover: this method does not exhaust, but promotes, the fertility of the ground, while it produces large crops. The lightest lands are fit for receiving the seed in April; those of a moist nature, in May; because all soils liable to be infested by weeds, bear the best crops when sown late, with a view to stifle their growth by the ascendancy of the barley.

Although the broad-cast, at two sowings, is the common method, and the usual allowance from three to four bushels per acre, yet much grain is thus unnecessarily wasted. Half the quantity, and even less, if sown equally, would not only afford a better crop, but the corn also would be less liable to lodge; for weak stalks, standing close together, are less capable of resisting the force of winds, or supporting themselves under heavy showers.

Unless the land be very light and rich, the method of setting and drilling will not answer. Although one root will produce eighty stalks, all having good and long ears filled with superior grain, yet it is to be apprehended, that this process of planting is too expensive in a country where manual labour is formed