Barley

“ Edwin Barley in this mood, which seemed to promise badly for her semi-idea of prolonging her stay under his roof; what with his ingratitude after all her pains; what with her recent ignominious exit from Chandos; and what with the good old sherry, that is apt to have its effects when taken at mid-day, Mrs. Penn lost control of her temper. Prudence was forgotten in passion; and Mr. Edwin Barley was doomed to listen to the wild ravings of an angry woman. ”

“ The awn of barley is furnished with stiff points, which, like the teeth of a saw, are all turned towards the point of it; as this long awn lies upon the ground, it extends itself in the moist air of night, and pushes forward the barley-corn, which it adheres to in the day ”

“ BARLEY.—Barley is a symbol of riches and abundance. The God Indra is called “He who ripens Barley,” and in many of their religious ceremonies the Indians introduce this cereal, viz., at the birth of an infant, at weddings, at funerals, and at certain of their sacrificial rites.——Barley is claimed by astrologers as a notable plant of Saturn. ”

“ Mother of the fields and forests,
Bring the rich soil to producing,
Bring the seed-grains to the sprouting,
That the barley well may flourish.
Never will the earth unaided,
Yield the ripe nutritious barley ”

“ But Burley had only women and children and old men on whom to practice his earnest and voluble French, for everybody else was at the front.
Children adored him—adored his big, silver spurs, his cartridge belt and pistol, the metal mule decorating his tunic collar, his six feet two of height, his quick smile, the even white teeth and grayish eyes of this American muleteer, who always had a stick of barley sugar to give them or an amazing trick to perform for them with a handkerchief or coin that vanished under their very noses at the magic snap of his finger.
Old men gossiped willingly with him ”

“ Edwin Barley.
"No. The will could not disappear without hands; but I should be sorry to give the very faintest opinion as to whose hands they were that took it. With your great fortune, it seems next door to an impossibility that you could have suppressed it: on the other hand, you alone derived benefit. The thing is a puzzle to me, Mr. Edwin Barley."
"But that you seem to speak honestly in saying so, without sinister insinuation, I would knock you down, Sir Harry Chandos," was Edwin Barley's answer. ”

“ But ah! as he neared us, remembrance, with its cold chill of terror, struck upon my heart. I knew him instantly. It was Mr. Edwin Barley. Mr. Edwin Barley, and not in the least altered.
"Do you want anything, sir?" demanded Mr. Chandos. For the intruder was passing us without ceremony, and turning his head about from side to side as curiously and freely as he might have done on the public road.
"I don't want anything," was the independent answer, and Mr. Edwin Barley stood and faced Mr. Chandos as he spoke it, looking at him keenly. "The open air is free to walk in, I believe." ”

“ Edwin Barley. A stranger might have taken one for the other, for the clergyman was in his sporting clothes, and Mr. Barley was all in black, with a white neckcloth. On a distant sofa, apparently reading a newspaper, sat Philip King; his features were handsome, but they had a very cross, disagreeable expression. He held the newspaper nearly level with his face, and I saw that his eyes, instead of being on it, were watching the movements of Mrs. Edwin Barley. She was at the piano, not so much singing or playing, as trying scraps of songs and pieces; Mr. Heneage standing by and talking to her. ”

“ In the common six-rowed English barley or Scottish bere (H. vulgare) , the two lateral rows of spikelets springing from one side of the rachis, either partially or entirely intersect and overlap the alternate lateral spikelets which spring from the opposite side of the rachis. This has given rise to the term “four-rowed barley.” Figs. 1–4 show some typical barleys in the ear. ”

“ I heard an amusing story about barley in Lincolnshire, some years before the repeal of the malt tax, which, I think, is worth recording. A farmer, after a very hot summer and dry harvest, had a good piece of barley which he offered by sample in Lincoln market. He could not make his price, the buyers complaining that it was too hard and flinty. He went home in disgust, but, after much pondering, thought he could see his way to meet the difficulty. He had the sacks of barley "shut" on his barn floor, in a heap, and several buckets of water poured over it. ”

“ Onions, barley, in little ridges between the ridges of tea, beans, rice, and a half a dozen other things that we did not know the names of, crowded the eye already wearied with the glare of the golden mustard. Manure is a good thing, but manual labour is better. We saw both even to excess. When a Japanese ryot has done everything to his field that he can possibly think of, he weeds the barley stalk by stalk with his finger and thumb. ”

“ Edwin Barley made no reply.
"Why—good heavens!—is that Mrs. Barley sitting there?" he inquired, in a low tone, as his eyes fell on the distant stairs.
"She won't move away. These things do terrify women. Don't notice her, Martin: she will be better left to herself."
"Upon my word, this is a startling and sudden blow," resumed the clergyman, again recurring to the death. "But you must surely be mistaken in calling it murder." ”

“ The road on to Barley is of a switchback kind, finally rising to the ridge where Barley is perched, overlooking a wild treeless country of downs. Barley is a little village as thoroughly agricultural as its name hints, and consists of but a few houses, mostly thatched, with a not very interesting church on a by-way, and a very striking inn, the Fox and Hounds, on the main road. It is the sign of the inn, rather than the house itself, that is so notable, for it [Pg 108] is one of those gallows signs, stretching across the road, that are now becoming so few. ”

“ When all had been caught, new couples were formed, and the pair which failed to occupy one of the ends of the ground was 'in hell.' 'Barley' may be derived from the fact that the game was often played in a cornfield: in Scotland, where one person caught the rest, and the rest, as caught, helped him, it was known as 'barla-bracks about the stacks.' Or 'barley' may be from a Scottish corruption of the cry 'parley.' For examples, see Nares' Glossary, and New English Dict., s.v. ”

“ Bar′ley-su′gar, a mixture of sugar with a decoction of pearl-barley, boiled till it is candied; Bar′ley-wat′er, a decoction of pearl-barley; Pearl′-bar′ley, the grain stripped of husk and pellicle, and completely rounded by grinding; Pot′-bar′ley, the grain deprived by milling of its outer husk, used in making broth, &c. [A.S. bærlíc, bere, and suffix -líc.]
Barley, bär′li, interj. (Scot.) a term used in games in demand of a truce, parley (of which it is most prob. a corruption) . ”

“ You ought to taste the miserable bread made from barley in order to find our bread good—or, I might better say, in order to find it an exquisite dainty even without butter or jam. Barley bread is full of long bristles that stick in the throat; it contains more bran than flour; it is bitter, stodgy, and of a disagreeable odor. Oh, what sorry stuff! And yet many have to be content with it, and are only glad if they can get enough of it.
Barley
“In the greater part of the world wheat, widely distributed by commerce, furnishes bread only for the tables of the rich. ”

“ Taken alone, in doses of one drachma, it purges by stool.
CHAP. 65.—BARLEY: NINE REMEDIES. MOUSE-BARLEY, BY THE GREEKS CALLED PHŒNICE: ONE REMEDY.
The whitest barley is the best. Boiled2780 in rain-water, the pulp of it is divided into lozenges, which are used in injections for ulcerations of the intestines and the uterus. The ashes of barley are applied to burns, to bones denuded of the flesh, to purulent eruptions, and to the bite of the shrew-mouse: sprinkled with salt and honey they impart whiteness to the teeth, and sweetness to the breath. ”

“ The Hordeum Zeocriton, L. or Bearded Barley, or Rice Barley, with short and coarse stalks, as likewise short though broad ears, divided into two rows. When cultivated on a good soil, and thinly sown, it is the most productive of all the species of barley, and possesses the additional advantage, that it does not droop its ears nor lodge, even in rainy seasons. Each row contains from twelve to fifteen small grains: these yield an excellent white flour, which, for most culinary purposes, may be substituted for that of wheat. In England, the best home-brewed ale is produced from this grain ”

“ Edwin Barley.
The news had spread; the servants crowded in; some of the women began to shriek. It became one indescribable scene of confusion, exclamations, and alarm. Mr. Edwin Barley turned round, in anger.
"Clear out, all of you!" he said, roughly. "What do you mean by making this uproar? You men can stay in the barn, you may be wanted," he added, to the out-door labourers.
They crowded out at the hall-door; the servants disappeared through the opposite one. Mr. Edwin Barley was one who brooked no delay in being obeyed. Miss Delves remained, and she drew near. ”

“ Know that the master of a horse gives him very little barley to begin with, and goes on increasing the quantity little by little, until he fails to consume it all, when the quantity is reduced and afterwards maintained at the exact measure of his appetite. The best time of day for giving barley is the evening. Unless on a journey, it is useless to give it in the morning. The best way is to give it to the horse saddled and girthed, just as the best way of watering him is with the bridle on. ”

“ They have music and dancing in the barley stubble. It is amusing to see these happy people enjoying themselves in the open air. As we pass, the reapers are seated near the road, in a barley field, at dinner, upon the ground, in rows one behind another, laughing and talking among themselves. ”

“ One can always try, anyhow.
Meanwhile the little Barley-corn under the loose sod was getting on rather badly. You see, it had not been tucked cosily into the soil like the Wheat. It was like a poor little [91] vagrant with no proper place to sleep in. It grew, but very slowly.
“Hullo! is that you?” said the Dormouse, peeping in one day under the sod; “are you awake?”
“I don’t think I’ve been properly to sleep,” said the Barley-corn.
“Make haste and grow a little faster, and come out of that,” said the Dormouse. “I should be rather fond of you if I thought you were taking trouble to get on.” ”

“ The nutritious nature of barley is amply proved by the effect, and very rapid effect, of its meal, in the fatting of hogs and of poultry of all descriptions. They will fatten quicker upon meal of barley than upon any other thing. The flesh, too, is sweeter than that proceeding from any other food, with the exception of that which proceeds from buck wheat, a grain little used in England. That proceeding from Indian corn is, indeed, still sweeter and finer ”

“ Give barley to your horses; deprive yourself to give them still more; for Sidi-Hamed-ben-Youssouf has remarked; "Had I not seen the mare produce the foal, I should have said it was the barley." He has also said: "Superior to spurs there is nothing but barley."
Do not water your horses more than once a day, at one or two in the afternoon; and give barley only in the evening, at sunset. It is a good practice in wartime, and, besides, it is the way to make their flesh firm and hard.
To train a horse that is too fat for the fatigues of war, reduce him by exercise, but never by lowering his keep. ”

“ H. vulgāre, four-rowed barley; and H. hexastichum, six-rowed, of which the small variety is the sacred barley of the ancients. The varieties of the four- and six-rowed species are generally coarser than those of the two-rowed, and adapted for a poorer soil and more exposed situation. Some of these are called bere or bigg. In Britain barley occupies more than 221⁄2 per cent of the land under corn, but in N. America the extent of it as a crop is comparatively small, being in Canada, however, relatively greater than in the States, and the Canadian barley is of very high quality. ”

“ The straw of the rye is the longest, but the beard (you should not call it the spikes) is shorter and coarser.
Arthur. I think the long beard of the barley gives it rather a silky look, as it waves about with the wind. Pray, grandpapa, is barley sown to make bread too?
Mr. Mansfield. Sometimes it is used for that purpose; but the greatest part of what we grow in England is for making beer.
Arthur. Beer! Is it possible that barley can make beer? Do you know, sir, how it is done?
Mr. Mansfield. Yes; and you shall [48] hear, if you wish to know. All grain is the seed of the plant ”

“ Modern man however prefers wheat and corn and potatoes to barley, and as a food this ancient crop is in America turned over to the lower animals. Brewers use barley extensively in making malt liquors. Barley grows in nearly all sections of our country, but a few states—namely, Minnesota, California, Wisconsin, Iowa, and North and South Dakota—are seeding large areas to this crop.
For malting purposes the barley raised on rather light, friable, porous soil is best. Soils of this kind are likely to produce a medium yield of bright grain. ”

“ The narrow crape tucks on her gown were exchanged for wide ones, and some black love-ribbon mingled with her hair. I sobbed till they came back, sitting by myself in the dining-room.
It was the very room they filed into, those who entered. A formidable array, in their sweeping scarves and hatbands; too formidable for me to pass, and I shrunk into the far corner, between the sideboard and the dumb-waiter. But they began to leave again, only just saying good day in a low tone to Mr. Edwin Barley, and got into the coaches that waited. Mr. Gregg the lawyer remained, and Mr. Barley. ”

“ For he says, “But there is a peculiarity in the effects of the drink made from barley, which they call πῖνος, for they who get drunk on other intoxicating liquors fall on all parts of their body; they fall on the left side, on the right side, on their faces, and on their backs. But it is only those who get drunk on beer who fall on their backs, and lie with their faces upwards.” But the wine which is made of barley is by some called βρύτος, as Sophocles says, in his Triptolemus—
And not to drink the earthy beer (βρύτον) . ”