Page:Willich, A. F. M. - The Domestic Encyclopædia (Vol. 1, 1802).djvu/194

170] by free-born subjects.—Hence it would be preferable to sow thin on poor lands, in order to allow sufficient room for the nourishment of each plant; as it is proved by experience, that this simple method is the most beneficial.

It has farther been suggested, when the barley is sown and harrowed in, that, after the first shower of rain, the land should be rolled, to break the clods; which, by closing the earth about the roots, will be of great advantage to it in dry weather. After the barley has been above ground three weeks or a month, it should again be rolled with a heavy roller, to prevent the sun and air from penetrating the ground, to the injury of the roots. This rolling, before the barley branches out, is said to be attended with another advantage, namely, that it will cause the plant to spread into a greater number of stalks, so that if they be thin, the ground will thus be filled, and the stalks strenthened. Whether this expedient be proper for all soils, indiscriminately, we are inclined to doubt, though we do not hesitate to approve of it for very light lands, which are neither loamy nor otherwise too stiff.

Lastly, if the blade grow too luxuriantly, as is the case in warm and wet springs, mowing is said to be preferable to feeding it down by sheep; because the scythe removes only the rank tops, but those animals, being fond of the sweet end of the stalk next the root, will often bite so close as to injure its future vegetation.

With respect to the time when barley is fit to be mowed, farmers frequently fall into the error of cutting it before it is perfectly ripe; thinking it will attain its perfect maturity, if they allow it to lie in the swarth. This, however, is a very common error, as it will shrivel in the field, and afterwards make but an indifferent malt; it also threshes with more difficulty, and is apt to be bruised under the flail. The only certain test of judging when it is fit to mow, must be from the drooping and falling of the ears, so as to double against the straw. In that state, and not before, it may be cut with all expedition, and carried in without danger of heating in the mow. To obviate such accidents, and secure it from being mow-burnt, it is advisable to prepare a large sheaf, or two sheaves, of straw, closely tied together, which should be placed in the centre, when the stack is commenced; and as the layers of corn rise, other sheaves must be put on the first; so that when the whole stack is completed, and the sheaves are removed, a funnel, or vent-hole, may be continued from the bottom to the top. After withdrawing the sheaves, the stack should be covered with a bottle of straw, before it is thatched.

Barley lying in the mow unthreshed, will keep for one or two years, if the above stated method be adopted. But when this grain is converted into malt, it can with difficulty be preserved longer than one year, without being infested by weevils. One of the best remedies to destroy these vermin, is dry worm-wood laid in the malt.—For farther information on this head, see.

Numerous have been the attempts to cure the smut in barley and other kinds of grain; a disease which by some is attributed to the generation of certain minute sects