396 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



May 



er grain. The hot summer sun would destroy the 

 crop, very likely nineteen times out of twenty. 



A HYBRID. 



Some years ago I mixed some silverhull and com- 

 mon buckwheat, and sowed the two kinds together.. 

 The third year the grain was nicely blended, re- 

 sembling both varieties, and I fancied yielded a 

 better crop than either of the others. 



BEES AND BUCKWHEAT. 



These thrive well together. With me the latter 

 never failed to yield nectar, and always produced, 

 I am fully persuaded, better crops because of the 

 frequent visits of the bees. 



DOES BUCKWHEAT PAV? 



To the man who keeps many bees in a section of 

 country where it is pretty sure to produce honey, I 

 would say I certainly think it pays well, if properly 

 handled all the way through— all depends upon 

 that. S. T. Pettit. 



Belmont, Ont., Can., May 1, 1889. 



BUCKWHEAT IN KENTUCKY. 



The ground for buckwheat should be thoroughly 

 well prepared before the seed is ever sown, as, in 

 fact, this is necessary for the successful growth of 

 about any crop. Of course, the richer the ground, 

 other things being equal, the greater will be the 

 yield. Tolerably high bottom ground, second year's 

 new ground, or any soil good for oats or wheat, will 

 do for buckwheat. G round that has been in clover, 

 and followed with corn, is suitable, for the reason 

 that the thorough cultivation required by corn 

 keeps down the weeds and grass. It is not an easy 

 matter to kill weeds after the buckwheat is up, 

 hence the preparation of the ground the previous 

 season is of much importance. 



The ground should be broken early in the spring, 

 before the weeds and graste begin to grow; then 

 again when you wish to sow. It is somewhat owing 

 to the locality and the purpose for which you are 

 growing buckwheat as to the proper time for sow- 

 ing. About the 20th of May or first of June I think 

 is the average time, and three pecks of buckwheat 

 is the amount usually sown on an acre. Just be- 

 fore sowing, the soil should be thoroughly pulver- 

 ized, and leveled by harrowing. 



The seed-bed should not only be deep but fine. In 

 fact, the pulverization of the soil should be the 

 main object; and the finer and more complete it is, 

 the better the growth of the crop. Some practice 

 drilling the seed and fertilizer together, but I be- 

 lieve the fertilizer should be applied broadcast, as 

 it is more evenly distributed over the ground. If 

 stable manure be used it should be well rotted, and 

 thoroughly mingled with the soil, in order to give 

 the field uniformity of growth. About 300 lbs. of 

 guano to the acre should be sown, unless the 

 ground is rich enough naturally. 



When most of the seed is ripe it should be cut, 

 and tied up in bundles. After it is thoroughly dry 

 it should be hauled and piled or stacked in a tight- 

 floored barn. It is also very necessary that the 

 wagon-bed have a tight bottom, so that the shatter- 

 ed grain may be saved. I believe, where a person 

 grows only a few bushels for his own use it is 

 cheaper and easier to thrash it out, with the flail. 

 It would be much the best, when a person has much 

 of the grain to clean, to get a separator to come to 

 the barn and thrash it out. In this neighoorhood 

 the cost would not be over seven cents per bushel, 

 even if the thrashing season were over. 



1 will only add, in conclusion, that T believe one 

 of the best uses to which buckwheat can be put is 

 that of feeding to hogs. By having different fields 

 to mature at different times, we can turn our hogs 

 into the fields from July till October. 



Skilesville, Ky. Finis A. Wootton. 



BUCKWHEAT IN KANSAS. 



As you call for reports in regard to buckwheat, I 

 will send you mine. Last year I raised 116 bushels 

 —85 of Japanese and 31 of silverhull. I think the 

 Japanese quite a bonanza. The beauty of it all is, 

 that I was just 116 bushels ahead of nothing. As 

 soon as my oats were off, my son plowed the stub- 

 ble under. I sowed the seed broadcast. I also 

 sowed one acre of my wheat stubble, after he had 

 turned it under. On this I sowed '5 pecks, and se- 

 cured 28 bushels of Japanese, and then lost at 

 least 5 bushels of it in cutting. 



HARVESTING BUCKWHEAT. 



I cut mine with a mower. I had three hands- 

 boys will do— to follow right after the machine, 

 with four-tined forks. They gathered it in bunch- 

 es, just as large as would dry through nicely. 

 These bunches they lifted out of the way of the 

 machine by the time it came around. I tried the 

 self-rake, but I prefer the mowing-machine. The 

 buckwheat should be cut while the dew is on. If 

 necessary, cut all night, if you have much to cut. 

 I hired a man to flail it out. To do this, make a 

 platform up about two feet from the ground, of 

 rails, and thrash it on that. I then put mine 

 through the fanning-mill twice. Right here is the 

 best part of the whole matter. That acre of wheat 

 stubble on which I sowed buckwheat looks as well 

 to-day as any of the rest of the 20 acres of wheat. 

 The wheat is almost knee-high. When we were 

 done sowing the other, I said to my son, " I am go- 

 ing to try an experiment." Ours is a Havana 

 press-drill. The buckwheat stubble was so mellow 

 that I just put the drill right in on the stubble. T 

 now intend, as soon as the wheat is off, to have the 

 wheat stubble of the whole 30 acres turned under 

 and sown to Japanese buckwheat. But whether to 

 sow the buckwheat with the drill or not, 1 should 

 like to know, without experimenting very much. 

 I had thought that, perhaps, if we would sow half 

 that amount one way and then cross it with the 

 other half of the seed, it might do. You know the 

 old saying is, " Sow your buckwheat so that an old 

 sheep and her lamb can lie down between the 

 stalks;" but my idea in sowing wheat or oats is, 

 if you want grain you must sow liberally. For 

 buckwheat I sow about 3 pecks per acre. From 

 our buckwheat we took off 300 lbs. of nice honey, 

 and had all the nice buckwheat cakes and honey 

 we wanted. J. H. Kennedy. 



Quenemo, Osage Co., Kan., Apr. 25, 1889. 



THE PROPER WAY TO RAISE BUCKWHEAT IN A 



DRY SEASON; HOW IT MAY BE USED TO 



GET RID OF THISTLES. 



Having had 20 years' experience in raising buck- 

 wheat, 1 will give you a few pointers. First and 

 most important of all, is to plow the ground early. 

 Plow immediately after sowing oats or planting 

 corn, or, in other words, one month before sowing. 

 To kill "quack-grass," plow twice, and thorough- 

 ly harrow in with a spring-tooth harrow. Under no 

 other conditions would I allow buckwheat ground 

 to be plowed twice. You can kill thistles every 

 time with buckwheat. Wait till the thistles are 15 



