Barley: The Versatile Crop
Barley is a very important grain in the world today. It is very versatile in every way. It has been well adapted through its evolution. It has a very mysterious and much debated beginning. Now however, barely has become well known and so have its many uses. Barley, which is of the genus Hordeum, is a cereal that belongs to the grass family Poaceae. Barley has many different varieties. The most common is Hordeum vulgare, which is a six-rowed type of barley that has a spike notched on opposite sides with three spikelets on each notch. At each notch there is a flower or floret that later develops into a kernel. Hordeum distichum is a two-rowed type of barley that has central florets producing kernels and it has lateral florets that are sterile. Lastly there is Hordeum irregulare which has fertile central florets and different arrangements of sterile and fertile lateral florets. This is the least cultivated species of the three main forms (2).
Barley is very adaptable to various environments. In fact, it is the most adaptable of the cereals. Barley is an annual grass that has two growing seasons, winter and spring. It does best in the spring in a temperate zone with a 90 day growing season, it can also be found growing in sub-arctic regions, like in Alaska or in Norway, with very short growing seasons (1). Barley also has a very good resistance to dry heat compared to other small grains. This feature allows it to grow near desert areas such as North Africa (2).
Barley has a very debatable origin. There are two different thoughts as to where barley was originally cultivated. J.R Hardin says that barley cultivation originated in Egypt. There is evidence of barley grains found in pits and pyramids of Egypt over 5000 years ago. There has also been ancient glyphs or pictorials showing barley dating back to 3000 BC. There have also been references to barley and beer making in ancient Egyptian and Sumerian writings. (4). The other thought is that barley was originally cultivated in China around 1500-2000 BC. This is evident by ancient pottery found depicting the end of the famine by having barley fall out of the sky (2). Barley cultivation also seems to have been evident in other parts of the world at later times. For example northwestern Europe is estimated to have civilizations cultivating barley around 3000 BC.
In a good year all or most of them will thrive and give you wheat. But in a bad year a spate of high winds may take down the tallest stalks and leave standing at the harvest time only, say, the 10 percent of the crop that had a “shortness” gene. And if that wheat comprises your winter’s supply of bread, plus the only seed you’ll have for next year’s crop, then you’ll be almighty glad to have that small, short harvest. Genetic diversity, in domestic populations as well as wild ones, is nature’s sole insurance policy. Environments change: Wet years are followed by droughts, lakes dry up, volcanoes rumble, ice ages dawn. It’s a big, bad world out there for a little strand of DNA. But a population will persist over time if, deep within the scattered genetics of its ranks, it is literally prepared for anything. When the windy years persist for a decade, the wheat population will be overtaken by a preponderance of shortness, but if the crop maintains its diversity, there will always be recessive aspirations [i.e., recessive genes] for height hiding in there somewhere, waiting to have their day (97-98).
Impressionism is the name given to the art movement that changed art forever. Starting in France in the 1860's, Impressionism was considered a radical break from tradition.1 Through the work of artists including Édouard Manet, Claude Monet, Pierre Renoir, Camille Pissarro and Edgar Degas impressionism was born. Impressionists painted outside and focused greatly on light and its reflection. They painted quickly on primed white canvas with short visible brushstrokes and placed separate colours side by side letting the viewer’s eyes mix them. (Techniques uncommon to art at this time) Regarding their subject they again broke with tradition and painted anything they wanted including the modernity of Paris and the everyday life of its citizens. This new found freedom regarding subject along with unconventional techniques greatly displeased the L’École des Beaux-Arts where academic artists would have worked on subjects such as history, royalty and mythology.2 In contrast to the impressionists their work had a smooth varnished finish, showing little to no evidence of the artist’s presence. Having introduced Impressionism, I aim to in this essay analyse why the city of Paris is at the heart of the impressionist movement. Firstly by looking at how Paris helped create the impressionist movement and secondly how Paris fuelled it.
The production of wheat is not a new phenomenon. Wheat has been successfully cultivated for thousands of years. Since the industrial revolution, wheat cultivation has taken a dramatic shift. Everything has changed; how we grow wheat, how we process it, the way we store it and even the way we eat it. Yes, a lot has changed.
In such a heated topic, it is important to make the distinction between an asylum seeker and refugee. Definitions are disputed, but the UN uses the following definitions. A refugee is a person who has left their country due to legitimate fears of persecution because of race, religion, nationality, political views, or social class. An asylum seeker is someone who claims refugee status but has yet to officially gained said status. Often times, one might seek asylum in times of war or when one feels threatened by their government. It is important to note that while a definition seems straightforward, arge political controversies may arise depending on the...
Before Impressionism came to be a major movement (around 1870-1800s), Neoclassical and Romanticism were still making their impacts. Remembering last week’s lesson, we know that both those styles were different in the fact that one was based on emotion, while the other was practical and serious. However, one thing they both shared was the fact that the artists were trying to get a message across; mostly having to do with the effects of the French Revolution, and/or being ordered to do so. With Impressionism, there is a clear difference from its predecessors.
According to the 1951 Refugee Convention, refugee is a term applied to anyone who is outside his/her own country and cannot return due to the fear of being persecuted on the basis of race, religion, nationality, membership of a group or political opinion. Many “refugees” that the media and the general public refer to today are known as internally displaced persons, which are people forced to flee their homes to avoid things such as armed conflict, generalized violations of human rights or natural and non-natural disasters. These two groups are distinctly different but fall ...
...general named Edwin Walker in April of 1963. His wife later told authorities about this attempted murder in a questioning with her. Oswald told Marina about this incident right after he attempted to kill Walker. Oswald moved his family down to New Orleans right after this incident (Simkin 2). Again, Oswald being interested in Communism, he wrote for the Fair Play for Cuba Committee. Lee created many copies of pamphlets encouraging United States citizens to join the committee. One day while passing out these handouts, Lee Harvey Oswald fought a man named Carlos Bringuier. He was arrested for this crime and sent to jail with a fine. After leaving jail, a few days later Oswald talked on the Bill Stuckey Radio Show about his issue of Fidel Castro (Simkin 2). Oswald’s return to the United States was not for good reason, especially his actions in the near future.
During Vincent Van Gogh’s childhood years, and even before he was born, impressionism was the most common form of art. Impressionism was a very limiting type of art, with certain colors and scenes one must paint with. A few artists had grown tired of impressionism, however, and wanted to create their own genre of art. These artists, including Paul Gaugin, Vincent Van Gogh, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, and Paul Cezanne, hoped to better express themselves by painting ...
Wheat likes to grow in 70 to 75 F temperatures. It needs lots of sunshine, low humidity and 12 to 15 inches of rain. “Moderate warming and more carbon dioxide in the atmosphere may help some plants to grow faster. However, more severe warming, floods, and drought may reduce yields” (Climate Impacts on Agriculture and Food Supply). This means crops can produce more wheat when there are good temperatures and carbon dioxide. Less wheat is produced when there is bad weather such as floods or very little rain. According to the website, “Dealing with drought could become a challenge in areas where rising summer temperatures cause soils to become drier.” (Climate Impacts on Agriculture and Food Supply). Dry soil destroys wheat crops. In summary, temperatures and water are very important to soil because it affects how much wheat is produced. So, without good temperatures, rain, and soil there wouldn’t be enough wheat to produce
In the mid- to late 1800s, a group of artists challenged the conventions that governed artistic expression. These artists, later known as the Impressionists, were initially seen as vulgar and rebellious. It took years for the public and artistic community to accept them and their work. They set up their canvases outside, using wide brush strokes and vibrant colors as they focused on expression over realism.
Every American should have the right to live free from the fear of abuse. Unfortunately, that doesn’t always happen. The National Center on Elder Abuse Administration on Aging (NCEA) stated, “In the United States, the 2010 Census recorded the greatest number and proportion of people age 65 and older in all of decennial census history: 40.3 million, or 13% of the total population. This “Boomer Generation” effect will continue for decades”. This suggests that with the population of elders increasing, the abuse of elders will grow much higher. Elder abuse if defined as intentionally causing harm to a vulnerable elder by a caregiver or someone they trust. There are five main types of abuse; Physical, sexual, neglect, emotional or psychological
Modernism was a widespread change that took place in the late 19th century that continued throughout the early 20th century. This changed the scientific discovery, political philosophies, industrialization, and the growth of urban centers. During this time art was filled with many new and different ideas and styles, which include painting, sculpture, and so much more. This allowed artists to be free to express their emotion in what they want to do within their artwork. In Paris this launched the movement called Impressionism. Impressionist techniques independently, each artist using short or broken brush strokes that barely take forms, unblended colors, and shadows and highlights of light. Its founding members included Edgar Degas, Vincent Van Gogh, and Auguste Renoir, among many other artists. Their work is acknowledged today for its modernity, which embodied its rejection styles of new ideas that illustrate modern life.
Throughout the history of the human race there have been a great number of crops that were discovered, planted, and over time domesticated. Wheat in the Middle East, rice in Asia, and rye in Eastern Europe are all some of today’s staple crops that feed millions every day. Crops like these make up over 50% of the world’s total food supply. However, the third most eaten crop in the world is maize, or corn, which provides 21% of human nutrition. Today maize feeds millions across the world, but its history is different from the others.
III. Agriculture first appeared in Syria thousands of years ago, when man discovered the possibility of growing hundreds of new plants from seed. The founder crops, wheat, barley, peas, lentils, vetch, chick peas and flax were cultivated in the Levant. This discovery made it possible for civilization, as we know it, to begin.
Wheat is one of the major food crops in the world, which provides 532 kcal/capita/day (http://faostat.fao.org). World production of wheat is about 670 M tonnes, which is only behind maize (872 M tonnes) and rice (720 M tonnes) (http://faostat.fao.org) whereas the US is the third largest wheat producer in the world (http://faostat.fao.org). Wheat group comprise of 13 diploid and 18 allopolyploid species (12 tetra and 6 hexa) (Feldman et al. 2012), where hexaploid wheat is the most cultivated class throughout the world (Faris 2014). Hexaploid wheat (bread wheat) is known as the allohexaploid (2n=6x=42, BBAADD), because it is derived from the diploid species via convergent evolution (Faris 2014 and Feldman et al. 2012). Hexaploid wheat consist of winter and spring wheat, which mainly differed by vernalization governed by vrn (vrn1, vrn2) genes (Taiz and Zeiger 2002, Doebley et al. 2006).