488 REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF AGRICULTURE. 



Pennsylvania. — All reports on Board of Trade favorable. Lackawana 

 Couuty : " Straw stiff and lieads well filled. Yield above tlie average. 

 Think tliis a fine variety." 



Utah. — Summit County : Eed Rust Proof— "I consider them by far 

 the best oats we have had in this ]:)art of the country." 



Washington. — Snohomish County : Red Bust Proot^-" Straw short and 

 Btitf, with large heads. "Weight 45 pounds per busliel." 



Idaho. — Acia County : Board of Trade — " 125 bushels per acre. Grew 

 4^ feet high. Some heads maturing 194 perfect grains." 



^Indian Territorij. — Board of Trade — "Fine growth. Very prolific. 

 Suitable for this section." 



G. Damkoehler, Clarence, Shelby County, Missourij writes, April 5, 

 1880 : * 



I had 6 acres winter wlieat, 6 acres spring -wLeat, and 18 or 20 acres of common 

 oats destroyed by cMnch-bugs. They did not touch my Chinese Hnlless oats. Tliia 

 may be owing to the oily coating of the latter. They will be of great value on thi8 

 account if they can be acclimatized. 



William Trenholm, Summerville, Charleston Countj^, South Carolina : 



In our section of country we are obliged to prepare in advance against rust by sow- 

 ing cow pease fertilized with a mixture of German potash salt (Kainit) out phosphate 

 rock and marl. I api^ly about 400 pounds per acre. The pease are sown broadcast in 

 June and allowed to grow until the first frost of the winter turns the leaves. They 

 are then plowed in and oats or wheat broadcasted over the land, about 2i to 3 bushels 

 per acre. Oats planted in this way are seldom aftected by rust, but have been this 

 year more than usual. The only oat, I think, that we can raise in this State with any 

 chance of success is the Red Rust Proof, and even this has rusted in some parts of the 

 State. 



BARLEY. 



BaJcota. — ^Bon Homme County : Nepaul or Beardless—'' The best bar 

 ley I ever saw." 



Minnesota. — Meeker County: Mensury — "Excellent. Excited the ad- 

 miration of every one." Freeborn and Otter Tail Counties rei)ort the 

 Nepaul or Beardless barley badly blighted. 



Kebraslca. — Nepaul or Beardless : "The best barley raised. Hardy, 

 heavy, and stift sti'aw and rich berry." 



Hew Hampshire. — IMerrimack County : " Promises to excel anything 

 known in this county in quality and quantity." 



Washington. — Snohomish County : Neijaul or Beardless — " Weighs 50 

 pounds to the bushel. The finest variety of barley I ever saw." 



Wisconsin. — Sheboygan County: jS^epaul or Beardless — "Blighted 

 badly." 



BUCKWHEAT — SILVER HULL. 



Mr. Thomas W. Beatty, Conwayboro', S. C, writes, March 11, 1880 : 



Last summer yon were kind enough to send mo 4 quarts of buckwheat to plant as 

 an experiment. At ray request, Capt. G. Gilbert (of Bucksville) planted 3 quai-ts ol 

 this seed, on what we call second low lands, that is, neither high nor low lands. The 

 ground was plowed and well pulverized with the harrow. The seeds were sown as fol- 

 lows : 1 quart on 20th of July, 1 quart on Ist of August, and 1 quart on iOth of Au- 

 gust. While the grain was in a ripennig stage a storm beat and tangled it very much, 

 so that Captain Gilbert thinks he, in this way, lost from 2 to 3 bushels. The 3 quarts 

 yielded 7 bushels of full, heavy buckwheat. The quantity of land planted was one- 

 eighth of an acre. The yield was at the rate of 56 bushels per acre, and, but for the 

 storm, would have been at the rate of 72 bushels per acre. 



There is no reason why the best of buckwheat should not be grown, abundantly in 

 these Southern States, as the ground may be prepared and the seed sown after the 

 other usual crops are laid by. 



Captain Gilbert thinks the seed planted on the 20th of July did better than that 

 planted on the 10th of August. So we conclude the proper time for planting buck- 

 wheat (as far south as tljiis) is from the 20th of July to the ist of August. The grain 

 was gathered the first week iji October. 



