294 BOTANY or CROP PLANTS 



needed. The notch-seeded buckwheat {F. emarginatum), 

 a form cultivated in northeastern India and China, is dis- 

 tinguished from the preceding by having the angles of the 

 smooth hull prolonged into wide, rounded wings. 



Varieties. — Three varieties of common buckwheat are 

 grown in the United States: Japanese, silver hull, and com- 

 mon gray. They may be distinguished by the following 

 key: 



Key to Varieties of Common Buckwheat 



Faces of grain slightly concave; angles extended into very short wings, 



Common gray. 

 Faces of grain flat; angles not extended into wings. 



Grain small and plump, Silver hull. 



Grain large and not so plump, Japanese. 



Environmental Relations. — Buckwheat is a temperate- 

 climate plant, finding the best conditions for growth where 

 the summers are cool and moderately moist. Dry, hot 

 weather is inimical to the proper setting of the fruit. Accord- 

 ing to the work of Briggs and Shantz, buckwheat has a water 

 requirement intermediate between that of barley and oats, 

 the actual amount being 578. Buckwheat is known to do 

 well on poor soils, even those in which the drainage is such as 

 to make it impossible to grow the small cereals profitably. 



Uses. — The principal use of buckwheat is in the manu- 

 facture of pancake flour. As a food for stock, it is used in 

 various forms. The whole grain is sometimes fed to poul- 

 try, hogs and cattle. Usually, however, the hulls are re- 

 moved from the grain, and the seeds ground, before feeding 

 to hogs. The middlings (hulls mixed with bran) are prized 

 as a stock feed. Buckwheat straw is used both as a feed 

 and a bedding for stock. Honey from buckwheat flowers 

 has always possessed a high reputation for flavor. Buck- 



