73. BARLEY is a grain, or cereal, that grows very much like wheat.
However, it is hardier than wheat or any other cereals and may be grown
through a greater range of climates. Barley has been cultivated from the
most ancient times; in fact, its cultivation can be traced as far back
as man's occupations have been recorded. The grain of this cereal has
also played an important part in the advancement of man, for, according
to history, some of the present weights and measures originated from it.
Thus, the Troy weight grain is said to have been first fixed by finding
the average weight of a barley grain, and the inch of linear measure, by
placing three grains of barley end to end.
74. Although several varieties of barley have been cultivated as food
from the earliest times, the grain is now used principally in the
manufacture of malt. In this form, it is used for the malting of foods
and in the making of alcoholic liquors. To produce malt, the barley
grains are moistened and allowed to sprout, and during this process of
sprouting the starch of the barley is changed to sugar. The grains are
then dried, and the sprouts, which are called _malt sprouts_, are broken
off and sold as cattle food. The grain that remains, which is really
_malt_, is then crushed and combined with other grains for use as malted
cereal food. When barley is used to make malt, or fermented, liquors, it
is soaked in water, which absorbs the sugar in it; then yeast is added,
and this produces alcohol by causing the fermentation of the sugar.
75. In the United States, _pearl barley_ is the name applied to the most
common form of barley used as food. In this form, the layer of bran is
removed from the outside of the barley grain, but no change is made in
the grain itself. Pearl barley is used for soups and as a breakfast
cereal, but for whatever purpose it is employed it requires very long
cooking to make it palatable. Very often the water in which a small
amount of pearl barley has been cooked for a long time is used to dilute
the milk given to a child who has indigestion or who is not able to take
whole milk.