,000 feet above the level of the sea. It is one
of the staple crops of northern and mountainous Europe and Asia. It is
the corn that, next to rice, gives the greatest weight of flour per
acre, and it may be eaten with no other preparation than that of
boiling. It requires little or no dressing when it is sent to the
mill, having no husk, and consequently produces no bran. In this
country barley is chiefly used for malting and distilling purposes. In
the year 1850, 40,745,050 bushels of malt paid duty, the number of
maltsters in the United Kingdom being from 8,000 to 9,000. About one
and a half million quarters of barley were imported in 1849, and a
little over a million quarters in 1850, principally from Denmark and
Prussia. The counties in England where this grain is chiefly
cultivated are Norfolk, Suffolk, Cambridge, Bedford, Herts, Leicester,
and Nottingham. The produce of barley on land well prepared, is from
thirty to fifty bushels or more per statute acre, weighing from 45 to
55 lbs. per bushel, according to quality. It is said to contain 65 per
cent. of nutritive matter, while wheat contains 78 per cent.

The estimated average produce of barley in this country may be stated
as follows:--

Acres. Crop.
England 1,500,000 6,375,000
Ireland 320,000 1,120,000
Scotland 450,000 1,800,000
-------- -----------
2,270,000 9,295,000

The average produce per acre, in the United Kingdom, is 41/4 quarters in
England, 31/2 in Ireland, and 4 in Scotland. The prices of barley per
quarter have ranged, in England, from 36s. 5d. in 1840, to 27s. 6d. in
1842. In 1847 barley reached 44s. 2d., and gradually declined to 23s.
5d, in 1850.

OATS.

Oats are principally in demand for horses, and the extraordinary
increase of the latter has occasioned a proportional increase in the
culture of oats. They are grown more especially in the north and
north-eastern counties; in the midland counties their culture is less
extensive, but it is prevalent throughout most parts of Wales.

Nearly twice as much oats as wheat is raised in the United Kingdom,
but the proportion grown in Scotland is not so large as is supposed.
The following is a fair estimate of the comparative production:--

Acres. Produce.
England 2,500,000 12,5