The barley chiefly cultivated in the United States is the
two-rowed variety which is generally preferred from the fulness of its
grain and its freedom from smut. Barley has never been much imported
from that country, as the Americans have been rather consumers than
producers. The consumption of barley there in 1850 in the manufacture
of malt and spirituous liquors amounted to 3,780,000 bushels, and
according to the census returns, the quantity of barley raised was
4,161,504 bushels in 1840, and 5,167,213 bushels in 1850. In this
country barley is extensively used for malting, distilling, and making
beer; large quantities are consumed in Scotland, or carried into
England.

In Prussia, about ten and a half million hectolitres of barley are
annually raised. In the Canary Isles, about 354,000 bushels are
annually exported. In Van Diemen's Land in 1844, 174,405 bushels of
barley were grown on 12,466 acres.

The quantity of barley made into malt in the United Kingdom in the
year ending 10th October, 1850, was 5,183,617 quarters, of which about
four million quarters were used by 8,500 maltsters. The quantity of
malt charged with duty in the year ending 5th January, 1851, was
636,641 tons; the average price per quarter, 26s. 2d.

Barley is at present extensively cultivated in the temperate districts
and islands of Europe, Asia, Africa and Australia. In Spain, Sicily,
the Canaries, Azores and Madeira, two crops are produced in a year.
In North America its growth is principally confined to Mexico, the
middle, western, and northern States of the Union, and to the British
North American provinces. The introduction of barley into the American
colonies may be traced back to the period of their settlement. By the
year 1648 it was raised in abundance in Virginia, but soon after its
culture was suffered to decline, in consequence of the more profitable
and increased production of tobacco. It has also been sparingly
cultivated in the regions of the middle and northern States for
malting and distillation, and has been employed, after being malted,
as a substitute for rice.

Barley, like wheat, has been cultivated in Syria and Egypt for more
than 3,000 years, and it was not until after the Romans adopted the
use of wheaten bread, that they fed their stock with this grain. It is
evidently a native of a warm climate, as it is known to be the most
productive in a mild season, and will grow within the tropics at an
elevation of 3,000 to 4