| Meal | 70·05 |
| Husk | 18·75 |
| Moisture | 11·20 |
| ——— | |
| 100· |
According to Johnston, average fine BARLEY-MEAL contains—
| Starch | 68· |
| Albumen, gluten, &c. | 14· |
| Fatty matter | 2· |
| Ash or saline matter | 2· |
| Water | 14· |
| ——— | |
| 100· |
According to Payen, dried barley possesses the following composition—
| Nitrogenous matter | 12·96 |
| Starch | 66·43 |
| Dextrin | 10·00 |
| Fatty matter | 2·76 |
| Cellulose | 4·75 |
| Mineral matter | 3·10 |
| ——— | |
| 100·00 |
According to Dr Ure, the sp. gr. of English barley is 1·25 to 1·33 (average, 1·235), and the weight of the husk is about 1-6th; that of BIGG, 1·227 to 1·265, and weight of husk, 2-9ths.
The analyses of the following varieties of barley, gave as the composition of the ashes of the grains:—
| Unknown | Chevalier Barley | From Moldavia | Chevalier Barley | |
| Potash | 21·14 | 20·77 | 37·55 | 7·70 |
| Soda | 4·56 | 1·06 | 0·36 | |
| Lime | 1·65 | 1·48 | 1·21 | 10·36 |
| Magnesia | 7·26 | 7·45 | 10·17 | 1·26 |
| Sesquioxide of iron | 2·13 | 0·51 | 1·02 | 1·46 |
| Sulphuric acid | 1·91 | 0·79 | 0·27 | 2·99 |
| Silica | 30·68 | 32·73 | 24·56 | 70·77 |
| Phosphoric acid | 28·53 | 31·69 | 38·64 | 1·99 |
| Chloride of Sodium | 1·10 | 1·47 | 1·10 |
In the ‘Journal of the Agricultural Society’ for 1873 is a report by Messrs Lawes and Gilbert of twenty years’ experiments with barley. The soil of a field at Rothampstead, in which the barley had been grown for twenty years, consisted of heavy loam, with a subsoil of clay resting on chalk, and was previous to the barley being planted almost exhausted by cropping. The produce was found to be greatest during the absence of drought and sudden alterations of temperature, the rather cool but uniform season of 1854 giving the heaviest crops. The yield from farm-yard manure and nitrate of soda was found in dry seasons to be rather larger than that from ammonia salts. Barley manured with phosphates was found to ripen one to two weeks earlier than when the phosphate was omitted.
The average produce per acre of a few of the principal plots is given below. The “ammonium salts” are stated to be a mixture of equal parts of sulphate and chloride; the “alkali salts” consist of the sulphates of potassium, sodium, and magnesium; the “cinerials” consist of alkali salts, plus superphosphate: