4-50 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUEE. 



June 



for the bees to make a start at the com- 

 mencement of the season. Now, can we 

 not have a good many experiments made 

 during the coming season, and made exact- 

 ly in the way you have mapped out. 



HOW TO RAISE BUCKWHEAT. 



BUCKWHEAT IN ILLINOIS. 



T^ VER since keeping bees I have raised from 5 

 b B| to 16 acres of buckwheat; and the amount 

 |PV per acre, as near as I can remember, has 

 ■^™ been 10 bushels. In this locality, which is 

 the western part of Central Illinois, we want 

 to sow about the 4th of July; if sown later, it is in 

 danger of being cut off by the frost. I usually sow 

 three pecks per acre, and get best crops from land 

 plowed shallow in the spring, and then broken 

 deeper just before sowing. About one year out of 

 three it pays better than any other crop on the 

 farm, and about one year out of five is a complete 

 failure. When I get the largest crop of grain we 

 usually get the largest amount of honey from the 

 flowers. 



For four years now, I have been sowing rye in 

 the fall. Immediately after the crop is matured 

 and taken off, I put the ground to buckwheat. I 

 am not quite so certain of getting a good yield, but 

 two crops a year of grain and one of honey will 

 more than overbalance the difference in the yield. 

 If I wait the thrashing of my other grain until 

 buckwheat is ready, the other grain is liable to 

 spoil in the stack. Sometimes I have thrashed the 

 other grain when it was ready, and thrashed the 

 buckwheat when it was ripe; but that necessitated 

 getting up two sets of hands, which I found expen- 

 sive; so, year before last I tried thrashing it with 

 flails, myself and two hands, which I found much 

 cheaper, but quite tedious, as it can not be flailed 

 out unless very dry, which in a wet year might oc- 

 casion quite a loss. Last year I bought the cylin- 

 der, and the frame on which it runs, of an old 

 thrashing-machine (for a trifle), which I used as an 

 old-fashioned chaff piler. I just threw the belt 

 from my two-horse tread-power on to the pulley of 

 the cylinder, and with it I could thrash as fast as a 

 hand could pitch it on the table of the machine, 

 which is the best arrangement I have found, and 

 the most satisfactory. Of course, the buckwheat 

 was not cleaned, but it could be stored in the barn, 

 and cleaned some rainy day, or at a leisure time. 

 I expect to raise none but the Japanese buckwheat 

 this year, as I think it pays far better than the gray 

 or silverhull. I have several times tried breaking 

 my oat ground, and putting in buckwheat; but it 

 usually gets caught by the frost, and so late flows 

 do not seem to yield much honey. Some complain 

 that buckwheat injures the ground, but I do not 

 find it so; neither does it bother by coming up 

 where I do not want it. I think this section of 

 country is not so well adapted to buckwheat cul- 

 ture as is Pennsylvania and some other States fur- 

 ther east. L. C. Axtell. 

 Roseville, 111., Apr. 20, 1889. 



BUCKWHEAT IN NEW YORK. 



Buckwheat is a grain that possesses many fea- 

 tures valuable to the farmer, of which many have 

 failed to take advantage. It is a grain credited 

 with the ability to grow on any soil, no matter how 

 poor, and produce a paying crop. The fact i?, there 



is none of our grains that will better repay sowing 

 on good soil. Buckwheat is very sens-Rive to cli- 

 matic changes, and especially so to an east wind 

 and hot burning sun during the time the grain is 

 forming. An extra crop can not be raised if the 

 climatic conditions are not favorable; but there 

 has not been a complete failure of the crop in this 

 section since I can remember. 



Buckwheat should be sown on a loose mellow soil; 

 and a clover sod turned under is the best. It should 

 be sown while the ground is dry and dusty, and 

 never immediately after a rain. T believe that I 

 lost over 10 bushels per acre by sowing too soon 

 after a rain. Roll the ground immediately after 

 sowing, as the grain sprouts quick, and is some- 

 times out of the ground in less than four days. 



The silverhull variety yields the best with me. 

 When first introduced here a neighbor sowed half a 

 bushel per acre on eight acres, and harvested 200 

 bushels. In 1887 I plowed under a year-old clover 

 sod, and drilled six bushels on four acres. It came 

 up very thick, grew tall and strong, smothering all 

 weeds, and I harvested 160 bushels, 50 lbs. to the 

 bushel. In this section the bulk of the crop is sown 

 between June 15th and 25th. The fourth-of-July 

 men have had frosted grain of late years. I have 

 known of some fair crops that were sown in May. 



Buckwheat should be cut with a self-rake reaper, 

 and tied and set up by hand. Some use a self-binder 

 here, but I have never seen one that did the work 

 satisfactorily to me. Some never tie their buck- 

 wheat; but last year, owing to its standing up bet- 

 ter, that which was tied was ready to thrash earlier, 

 and brought 75 cts. per bushel, while much that 

 was beaten down by rain brought later ouly 45 to 50. 

 Buckwheat being a fast grower, it requires a suf- 

 ficient amount of plant-food near the surface. If 

 the soil is deficient it can be supplied with commer- 

 cial fertilizer. It must be remembered, that a 

 sufficient amount of moisture must be present for 

 a chemical fertilizer to help any'crop. If this kind 

 of fertilizer is used it should be drilled with the 

 grain. I shall drill at the rate of 200 lbs. per acre on 

 one field this year. Every one must be bis own 

 judge as to the amount required, but I would never 

 use less than 100 lbs. per acre, of a standard brand. 

 One rich in potash gives the best results with me. 

 A large grower told me that, with chemical fertil- 

 izer, and depth of soil enough to cover the seed, he 

 could raise a paying crop. 



Buckwheat ' ; is mostly thrashed here now at the 

 rate of three cents per bushel with the steam- 

 thrasher, the farmer getting the grain to the ma- 

 chine, and furnishing coal for the engine. A small 

 crop can be thrashed to advantage with the flail, or 

 trodden out by horses, on the barn floor. It can be 

 thrashed when drawing in the barn, or, if work is 

 pressing, left until freezing weather. A neighbor 

 thrashed over one acre last winter with his horses, 

 rather than be to the trouble of getting a machine. 

 Buckwheat straw has a low feeding value, but it 

 can be made to help out a ration by mixing with 

 bran and oil-meal. It will be eaten readily by 

 horses, cattle, and sheep, for a change. If not used 

 for feed, it should be saved and used as an absorb- 

 ent in stable and yard. The fattening properties of 

 the grain are well known to most horse-jockeys; 

 but the fat is of a soft nature. We fed a flock of 

 lambs, for grain feed, a mixture of buckwheat and 

 corn; and the result was satisfactory, both in wool 

 and t\\e gain in flesh. I believe it is worth one pent 



