Jasper County Democrat, Volume 20, Number 15, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 19 May 1917 — BARLEY NOT A HUMAN FOOD [ARTICLE]

BARLEY NOT A HUMAN FOOD

As a Bread Cereal It Is Little Used. As An Animal Food It Is of Great Value. [National Crop Improvement Service.J For many centuries barley, the “corn” of holy writ, was used as a bread cereal, but it has practically gone out of use, except that Norway and Sweden use it in their peculiar bread disks, which are about the sizfl and shape of a phonograph record. Barley in itself does not make a a good bread flour and could be utilized only by mixing it with wheat, something which the American miller considers desecration of his shrine. It has a peculiar flavor and is just as different from wheat bread, as either corn or rye. But as a stock feed, it has many merits. As the kernels are too hard for some animals to relish, it may be crushed by passing it between rollers. If finely ground, the gluten makes a sticky mass as soon as it is wet, and this peculiar property makes it difficult to make it into good bread. Its main use in the American kitchen has been to use it as pearled barley in soups. It Is used some in" 1 breakfast food, through a malting process, but unless we as American people are on the verge of starvation, we will never use barley as a regular diet.