CHAPTER XXVII.

ON THE SUPPOSED ORIGIN OF BARLEY AND RYE.

The cereal barley is found to offer three important forms, which can be best explained by the annexed diagramatic arrangement:—


Two-rowed— by abortion of four	Four-rowed— by abortion of two	Six-rowed— by fruition of all

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the seeds of a spikelet.

The two-rowed barley has been named Hordeum distichum; and as we are inclined, with Professor Lindley, to the belief that this is the original from whence the other forms have sprung, we here quote the learned Professor’s remarks upon this and the probably allied forms:—

“It is probable,” he says, “that all kinds of barley grown by farmers are varieties of one species, of which, the H. distichum of Linnæus is the type. The spikelets of this genus always standing in threes, and the threes being placed back to back, it is evident that every ear of barley must consist of six rows of spikelets. If the middle spikelet of each set of threes is alone perfect, the side spikelets being abortive, we have H. distichum, the common two-rowed barley, and its many varieties; if the two-tuberal of each set is perfect, and the central spikelet imperfect, as sometimes happens, then we have four-rowed barley; if, on the other hand, all the spikelets are perfect, we have six-rowed barley, or H. hexastichum;[177] but the cases of four-rowed barley have been merely accidental—they may be referred to the six-rowed form; and thus we have only two principal kinds of barley—namely, H. distichum and H. hexastichum.

“1. H. distichum.—This is the only kind of barley that has been found apparently wild. We have now before us specimens gathered in Mesopotamia during Col. Chesney’s expedition to the Euphrates, with narrow ears, a little more than an inch long, exclusive of the awn, or four and a half inches awns included; and others from the ruins of Persepolis, with ears scarcely so large as starved rye. Both are straw-colour, but that from Mesopotamia has the glumes much more hairy than the other. The plant is also said to inhabit Tartary. The report that it grows wild in Sicily seems to have arisen from the Mediterranean Ægilops ovata having been mistaken for it. To this species belong all the varieties, from one to sixteen, formerly mentioned under Barley; as also does No. 20, fig. 34 [14]—the H. zeocriton, sprat or battledore barley, an undoubted result of domestication, chiefly remarkable for the ears being so much broader at the base than the point as to produce a long ovate figure.

“2. H. hexastichum.—We found no record of this having been found wild, and presume it and its numerous varieties to be domesticated forms of H. distichum. The common bere, or winter barley, may be taken as the typical form to which Nos. 18, 21, and 22, and figs. 37 and 38 [15] are evidently referable, varying in size, colour, and hairiness, more than in any other circumstance deserving botanical appreciation.

“The H. vulgare of Linnæus is a form with the grains in four rows, the naked-eared variety of which is again the H. cœleste of some writers.

“Both these forms of barley vary with naked seed, the pales losing their adhesion to the grain. But this difference is attended with no other peculiarity.

“3. The H. trifurcatum, also known under Dr. Royle’s name of H. ægiceras, is a very remarkable naked-seeded species, with much the appearance of wheat. It is a tall or glaucous six-rowed sort, but the rows are not placed in lines with the same exactness as in the two former kinds, so that the ears are round like wheat. The pales[178] are apparently in a monstrous form, the ends being three-lobed, and curved back in the form of horns, which sometimes extend into awns. It has been introduced from the Himalaya Mountains within a few years, but its economical qualities remain to be determined.”[16]

[14] See Morton’s Cyclopædia of Agriculture.

[15] Ibid.

[16] Cyclopædia of Agriculture, vol. ii. p. 68.

We have had opportunities, through the kindness of Professor Lindley, who contributed seeds, of cultivating all the forms just described; but our experiments for two years did not elicit anything new upon the subject: we therefore feel justified in quoting the above entire, especially as the different forms in our plots afforded sufficient evidence of an uniformity of origin on the one hand, with every disposition for forming varieties on the other.

Rye (Secale cereale).—For the little that is known of the natural history and origin of this crop-plant we again quote from the Cyclopædia of Agriculture, which states as follows:—

“The common rye is a cereal grass, distinguished from wheat by its narrow glumes and constantly twin narrow florets, with a membranous abortion between them. Otherwise it is little different in structure, although the quality of its grain is so inferior. According to Karl Koch, it is found undoubtedly wild on the mountains of the Crimea, especially all around the village of Dshimil, on granite, at the elevation of from 5,000 to 6,000 feet. In such places, its ears are not more than 1 to 2¹⁄₂ inches long. Its native country explains the reason why it is so much hardier than any variety of wheat, the southern origin of which is now ascertained.”

We have not seen any of this so-called wild rye; it would, however, be of great service could some good experiments be made with it, with a view of noting the changes which take place on cultivation. Indeed, we have long wished for authentic examples of all our wild, or supposed wild, cereals, with a view of examining side by side the nature and amount of the changes which cultivation would most assuredly produce.

Rye, unlike either wheat or barley, is not remarkable for a long list of varieties—a fact which may, perhaps, be attributed to the more limited growth of the former than the two latter. Its less extended cultivation must be attributed to its inferior qualities as food; for, though rye is in the main a hardier plant than wheat, and therefore could withstand the evils of a colder climate and colder treatment, yet with the advanced climate—the acclimatization of a country rather than a plant—the superior plant, wheat, everywhere prevails; and this cause also gives rise to the production of finer varieties, which are thus grown where only coarser ones were possible.