THIRD MEMORANDUM ON BARLEY GERMINATION

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Abstract
The rapid changes already taking place in methods of barley harvesting, and the probability that changes in malting practice may be necessary in post-war conditions, made it desirable to reconsider carefully the principles underlying the testing, valuation and treatment of malting barleys. With these objects further studies have been made in the 1945–46 season. The first essential is to obtain more understanding of the nature of “quality” in barley, and from the malting standpoint it would seem that much of “quality” is comprised in the obvious requirement of complete and even germination. Among “sound” barleys, incomplete germination arises from dormancy—in other words the germinative capacity is 100 per cent. in sound barleys, and differences between them arise from the degrees of germinative energy. Evidence suggesting this was obtained last season from a comparative study of the germinative energy of a number of varieties: low dormancy being associated with high quality. These results have been closely confirmed this season, thus suggesting at the same time that the relative degree of dormancy is a fairly constant varietal characteristic. This may assist in the selection and breeding of new races. It has not been possible, in the last season, to obtain conclusive evidence, but the indications are that the effect of nitrogen content is a separate factor in malting quality, unrelated to the dormancy. Dampness, either before or after harvest, may render barleys “unsound”—that is, may lower the germinative capacity. The causes leading to this appear to include premature sprouting of the germ (“pregermination”) and the action of fungi, bacteria, mites and other insect pests. Studies of unsound barleys by the selenite staining method show that this appears capable of measuring the germinative capacity of samples accurately, and more easily and rapidly than by the peeling technique. Death of the barley germ during storage can be followed closely by the selenite staining method and has been found to occur progressively from the root tip upwards. It appears to be related to the degree of development of fungi under the husk. By a suitable choice of samples and of drying treatment, it should be possible to mantain stocks of barley safely for much longer times than are at present customary.

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