Buckwheat. 267 



of protein and crude fiber and a lower percentage of nitrogen-free ex- 

 tract than wheat straw. Buckwheat middhngs, on account of its high 

 percentage of protein and fat, is in great demand as a food for dairy 

 cows. The hulls are so hard and indigestible that they are not often used 

 for animal food, although the analysis would suggest that they have some 

 feeding value. 



Species and distribution. — Botanists have assigned the cultivated 

 forms of buckwheat to three distinct species. 



1. Fagopyrum esculentum, common or true buckwheat. 



2. F. emarginatum, notch-seeded buckwheat. 



3. F. Tataricum, Tartary or Siberian buckwheat. 



The notch-seeded buckwheat is not known to have been grown in 

 this country but is reported as cultivated in India and China. By some 

 botanists it is regarded as a form of Fagopyrum esculentum, the common 

 buckwheat. It is distinguished by having the angles of the hull extended 

 into wide margins or wings. 



The Tartary buckwheat is cultivated in the cooler and more moun- 

 tainous regions of Asia and to some extent in Canada and ]\Iaine. It is 

 recommended for its superior hardiness. It has been tried in Pennsyl- 

 vania but without satisfactory results. The grain is smaller than the 

 common buckwheat, the plants are more slender and the leaves arrow- 

 shaped. It is sometimes called India wheat and duckwheat. The true 

 buckwheat has bright, white or pink-tinged flowers" in large trusses or 

 heads ; the India wheat has smaller greenish white flowers in small heads, 

 and also small leaves. The grain of buckwheat has regular angles; that 

 of the India wheat has wavy or slightly notched angles. 



The common buckwheat {Fagopyrum cscuJcntnm) is the most valu- 

 able and most widely grown form. It is met with wild in China and 

 Siberia and enters into the agriculture of every country where grain crops 

 are cultivated. In China it has been grown and used for food from time 

 immemorial. In Japan it is held in general esteem and in Russia it is 

 also largely consumed. It has been cultivated for centuries in England, 

 France, Spain, Italy and Germany. In all the European countries it is 

 chiefly consumed by the poorer classes, but it has remained for the 

 American housewife to learn how to prepare it so as to please the palate 

 of the epicure. The buckwheat pancake is a peculiarly American institu- 

 tion. Formerly it constituted the major part of the bread diet of the 

 greater portion of the rural population of the New England and Middle 

 States during the winter season. It has now won its wav to the break- 



