Recent changes in barley harvesting have raised a number of urgent questions on the purchase, storage and treatment of barleys which have been combine-harvested and farm-dried. The present study has led to the following suggestions. Both in germination tests to detect damaged samples and in malting soon after harvest, the main problem is provided by the dormancy of the grain. This dormancy appears to be due to the inner skin of the grain which covers the germ and retards the entry of oxygen, without which germination cannot proceed. Another important problem is that provided by the growth, under the husk, of fungi or bacteria which are liable to kill grains retarded by dormancy or overheating. It is suggested that the true germination capacity of freshly-harvested grain can be measured by peeling off the husk and inner skin over the germ and germinating on moist sand. Results can be obtained in 24–48 hours and indications are given of damage produced by farm-drying or by storage while moist. Treatments of barley in bulk to overcome dormancy can be either physical or chemical and appear to act by reducing the impermeability to oxygen of the inner skin of the grain. Drying preserves the grain from fungal attack and hastens the normal recovery from dormancy with time, which may be due to “perishing” of the impermeable layer. Moist grain is much more liable to damage from overheating than dry grain. It is, therefore, suggested that drying procedures, such as farm drying, should use intermediate temperatures initially and then (for effectiveness) complete the drying at a safe maximum temperature. To overcome dormancy in malting it is possible that treatment with ethylene in store may be helpful, or treatment in steep with acids or alkalis may be used if suitable conditions are chosen. It is also possible that certain types of mechanical treatment of barley may assist in overcoming dormancy, but the most effective treatment in laboratory tests has been the enrichment of the surrounding air with oxygen until germination commences.