588 THE SMALL GRAINS 



The production in Europe is by far the greatest in 

 Russia, next largest in France. Austria-Hungary, Scan- 

 dinavia, and Denmark each produce about equal amounts, 

 while the production in Germany is still less. All other 

 countries not named produce no more than half as 

 much as the German production. 



IMPROVEMENT 



652. Introduction. Several varieties of buckwheat 

 have been introduced in recent years into the United 

 States from foreign countries. Russian No. 1 and Oren- 

 burg No. 6 have given good results in North Dakota. 

 Sando Soba, an introduced variety of the Japanese type, 

 seems to be the best variety of 12 or more tested in 

 Kansas. The Chinese buckwheats, as tested in Kansas, 

 were hardier and more drought-resistant than were the 

 other varieties and were generally longer in maturing. 

 The Chinese varieties have smaller kernels of a peculiar 

 shape, and are less attractive looking than the Japanese 

 variety. The comparative milling value has not been 

 reported. 



653. Selection. Buckwheat offers an excellent field 

 of work for the plant breeder. Little has been done in 

 the way of variety production or the isolation of pure 

 strains. There is considerable variation observable be- 

 tween plants, and it should not be difficult to originate 

 strains which will produce larger yields than the ordinary 

 varieties. Some breeding work of this nature is under 

 way at the Cornell Agricultural Experiment Station, in 

 New York, where individual plant selections have been 

 made and are being compared. Work is being done in 

 Russia on the production of a 4-faced strain or variety, 



