400 THK C'£REALS IN AMERICA 



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 sup- 

 posed to produce a feverish condition of the system which mani- 

 fests itself in eruptions of the skin. Brewer suggests that inas- 

 much 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 si 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, loo pounds of grain wall 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 pro- 

 tein and fat. Buckwheat hulls are of little value. They are 

 sometimes mixed wath 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 advan- 

 tage. 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 oees, 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 



