1 CROPS, GRAIN £ BARLEY A digest of bulletins published by the Dominion Department of Agriculture, the Saskatchewan College of Agriculture, and the Canada Malting Co. Ltd. For further information on this subject write to your nearest Agricultural College or Experimental Farm. A list of these is given in Farm News Sheet No. 46. ISSUED BY EATON’S FARM NEWS SERVICE WINNIPEG, CANADA A 70-Bushel Per Acre Crop of O.A.C. 21 Barley at Birtle, Man. In 1924 Canada became the fifth largest producer of barley in the world, which position she still holds (1929). For the five-year period of 1909-1913, Canada ranked only thirteenth amongst the world’s largest barley-producing countries. It is obvious, therefore, that Canada is making rapid strides as a barley-producing country. Undoubtedly, this increased production of barley is due in a large measure to the development of varieties eminently suitable for malting purposes in Canada. Chief among these is the six-rowed variety known as O.A.C. 21, of which more will be said later. In the three prairie Provinces, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta (which consti- tute the greatest grain-producing section of the Dominion), 78 per cent. of the barley crop of Canada is produced. USES OF BARLEY As a Feed Crop—Corn has generally been considered better than barley as a feed for farm livestock, but recent experiments have shown barley to be quite equal to corn. Asa feed for producing bacon hogs it is superior to corn because it produces a whiter, firmer fat. It is much superior to oats for this purpose, because oats have been found to produce soft pork. Comparative feeding tests with poultry at Morden Experimental Station in 1928 showed barley to be better than corn. As a Cash Crop—In general it may be said that the most profitable cereal crop is the one that is best suited to the climatic and soil conditions, and to the particular crop rota- tion that is being practiced. When barley is grown as a cash crop, the per-acre profits will usually be less than from wheat, and more than from oats grown under the same condi- tions, but, owing to the variability of the many factors which affect and determine the profits from a cereal crop, this can only be taken as a very general statement. As a Cleaning Crop—Barley can be used in different ways as a cleaning crop for wild oats and many other weeds. Usually the land infested with weeds is given a surface cultivation in the Fall. If moisture is fairly plentiful, many of the weed seeds will ger- minate and will be killed when Winter sets in. In the Spring, a stroke with the drag harrow is sufficient for the second cultivation, but if the land has not been surface culti- vated in the Fall, a thorough cultivation with the disc or duckfoot cultivator is essential. Most of the weeds get started within two weeks, and these are killed by plowing the land immediately before the barley is sown. If possible, the barley should be sown within forty-eight hours of the time that the land is plowed, in order that it may get away to a good start before the weeds come through. As an Early Crop in the North Country—A crop which has a short maturing period is useful in two ways. In the first place, it may be grown successfully in the northern parts of the country where the Summer season is short. In the second place, it may be used by farmers throughout the entire country to sow on land that cannot be prepared in time for later maturing crops. It has been shown that O.A.C. 21 barley matures in about the same [OVER