581. Preparation of Seed Bed. Since a great deal of buckwheat is sown because of the failure of some other crop or be

Buckwheat: variety, Japanese, showing influence of preparation of seed bed upon growth. Plat on which larger plant grew was cultivated during the spring, while In plat upon which smaller one grew the weeds were allowed to grow in the usual manner. Just before seeding, which was July 6, all plats were plowed and prepared in usual manner. Illustration shows plants at six weeks from seeding. From unpublished data of Cornell Station. (One-twelfth natural size.)

cause the delay

in farm work has prevented the preparation of the land in time for an earlier sown crop, the preparation of the seed bed usually takes place immediately before seeding. The land is usually plowed and prepared as for any other cereal. Early and thorough preparation of the seed bed, however, is advisable, as shown by the illustrations in this

paragraph.

from May first to August first. The preferred time varies from the middle of June to the middle of July, depending upon locality. If sown too early, the flowers are liable to blast by the warm weather. The plant begins to blossom when quite small and continues until frost comes. Thus the plant has seeds in all

stages of maturity. When the earlier blossoms are blasted the later blossoms produce the seed. For this reason and because of the lateness of sowing, the crop is particularly liable to suffer from frost. The amount of seed used varies from two to five pecks, three to four pecks being common; depending principally upon the preparation of the seed bed. There is little trouble from foreign seed or from lack of germination. While the seed is usually sown broadcast by hand and harrowed in, the same reason exists for using the grain drill as in the case of wheat and other cereals. (131)

583. Enemies.-On account of its rapid germination and the quickness with which the plant shades the ground, as well as the time of year at which it is usually sown, buckwheat is little troubled with weeds. It is also especially free from insect attacks and fungous diseases. The principal causes of failure are the blasting of the flowers from hot weather and from drouth or flood.

584. Harvesting.-Buckwheat is usually harvested when the first seeds are fully mature, which is ordinarily in September. Buckwheat is a rather difficult crop to harvest. Much of it is still harvested with the cradle. Where the land will permit, probably the self-rake reaper is the most desirable implement. In this case it is not bound but is set up in shocks something after the manner of maize fodder. It may be cut with the selfbinder, put in long shocks without caps and threshed as soon as dry. It is rarely stacked or put in the barn on account of the difficulty cf getting the straw cured sufficiently to prevent heating. The grain is said to keep better, when carried over from one season to another, if put in two-bushel bags and piled loosely so as to admit of a good circulation of air, than when stored in bins. (168)

585. Use. The principal use of buckwheat is for the production of flour from which the well-known buckwheat cakes are

made. There is also some sale for buckwheat groats, which is made by breaking the hull and separating the same from the kernels of the grain. The constant use of buckwheat is supposed to produce a feverish condition of the system which manifests itself in eruptions of the skin. Brewer suggests that inasmuch as plants of the buckwheat family are used for their medicinal properties, perhaps the cultivated species has some such property which affects its physiological value as a food. Buckwheat is highly prized as a poultry food, it being popularly supposed to stimulate the egg laying capacity of hens. There is no experimental evidence to support this belief. When ground, it makes a good food for swine. Under favorable conditions, 100 pounds of grain will produce sixty pounds of flour, twenty-four pounds of middlings or bran, and sixteen pounds of hulls. Buckwheat middlings is highly prized as a food for milch cows on account of its high percentage of protein and fat. Buckwheat hulls are of little value. They are sometimes mixed with the middlings, the mixture being known as buckwheat feed. As a food for domestic animals, the former is greatly to be preferred.

Buckwheat straw if protected from the weather is relished by stock. Where hay is so abundant that there is no occasion to feed straw, buckwheat straw has little feeding value; but if roughage is short it may be made to help out to good advantage. Used as bedding it does not last well, but it makes good bedding for cows, and because it is rich in minerals and rots so quickly it is desirable for manure. An old buckwheat straw stack or chaff pile is counted almost as good as manure. Some farmers report good results from using buckwheat as a green forage crop. It is highly prized for Dees, buckwheat honey having a recognized place in the market.

586. Production.-Buckwheat is grown throughout the cooler portions of Asia, being extensively grown in Japan, and is rather sparingly grown in Europe, being less important there