410 On the Culture and life of Bucl-Wh\it. Nor. 



I ftrongly recommend the fowing of grafs feeds with buck- wheat, 



when there is not fufBcient time to prepare the land for a barley 

 or oat crop, I would nor by any means advife the farmer to truft 

 to buck-wheat for deftroying thofe weeds that may remain in 

 the ground, but endeavour by every pofhble care to extirpate 

 them entirely •, as the firft principle of agriculture, muft be the 

 thorough cleanfing of all land from weeds. The quantity of {ted 

 fliould not be lef& than two bulhels, or more than two and a half 

 bufliels, Winchei^er meafure. When grafs feeds are fown, the 

 fmaller quantity will be quite fufficient, taking care to harrow 

 the buck-wheat exceedingly well, before the other feeds are 

 fown ; and when they are, I find it the mod advifeable practice 

 to roll them directly, and harrow only once immediately after. 

 It will be remembered, that in thefe directions, I am fpeaking only 

 of fuch defcripiions of land as contain a eonfiderable portion of 

 find or moor ♦, for I am of opinion, that it is only on fuch foils, that 

 buck-wheat can be confidered a valuable crop. Whilft upon the 

 fubje£l of laying down land to grafs, I beg leave to obferve^ that far- 

 mers too generally fow them in a ftinted quantity; for two or three 

 year leas, not lefs than eighteen pounds of grafs feeds ; and 

 where the land is not good, an atldition of a quarter of a peck of 

 rye-grafs (folium per enne) lliould be allowed. If the buck-wheat 

 is mown when coming into flower, and led home as food for 

 the draught horfcs, cows, young beafts and pigs, which is> of all 

 others, tlie moil profitable mode of ufing it, the grafs feeds will 

 be much benefited. M. de Sails, in Dr Hunter's recent valuable 

 publication of Georgical efiays, particularly enlarges upon thia 

 fyftem ; and he is the only perfon, I know of, who has favoured 

 the public with any experiments upon this head. There is a ge- 

 neral idea, that cattle of all kinds diflike it in its green or llower- 

 ing ftate -, but this is the efTeCl of prejudice alone. All cattle, in- 

 deed, are apt at lirfl to neglect food to which they are unac- 

 cuflomed ; but from my own practice, I confiderthis method of 

 ufing it exceedingly beneficial, and am fully convinced that it is 

 a plant highly nutritious: Pigs in particular are remarkably par- 

 tial to it, and I think thrive equally well upon it as upon red 

 clover. It has fome advantages over red clover ; it will produce 

 a far more weighty crop, and of courfe makes an additional 

 quantity of manure : it is alfo to be railed rn the Ihort fpace 

 of two months, and that upon land which could not be got into 

 order for any other crop ; and the expence of feed is not more 

 than one half the expence of red clover. 



The advantages of keeping a eonfiderable (lock upon green 

 food in the farm-yard, throughout the year, muft be generally al- 

 lowed i the belt farmers in almofl every county in this ifland re- 

 gularly 



