College of Agriculture, Cornell University, 



Ithaca, N. Y. 

 Hon. C. a. Wieting, 



Commissioner of Agriculture, Albany: 



Sir: — Herewith I submit a popular account of buckwheat, suggesting 

 the best methods for its treatment in New York. There are no bulletins, 

 so far as I know, devoted to this important crop. The subject demands 

 greater study than has yet been devoted to it. 



The highest point in buckwheat production in the United States 

 seems to have been reached in 1866, when the crop as reported by the 

 United States Department of Agriculture was 22,791,839 bushels. The 

 average crop for the five years 1866 to 1870 was 18,257,428 bushels. The 

 average crop for the five years 1901— 1905 was 14,898,361. While the 

 total production in the United States has not in recent years equaled 

 that of the sixties, the crop in the States of chief production has increased 

 in volume. New York and Pennsylvania now produce more than two- 

 thirds of the total crop of the United States. Maine, ^Michigan, Wis- 

 consin, West Virginia, North Carolina, New Jersey and Massachusetts, 

 ranking in the order named, produce the major portion of the other third. 

 The following table gives the statistics of buckwheat production in New 

 York and Pennsylvania for the five-year period 1 901- 1905 : 



Table i. — Showing the Average Annual Acreage, Yield, Production, 

 Price and Farm Value of Buckwheat in New York and Pennsyl- 

 vania for the Period of 1901-1905 



Respectfully submitted, 



L. H. Bailey, 



Director, 



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