SEPTEMBER. 305 



lost in this operation, and in that of turning it to dry in the 

 sun when cut. As I have said, the drier it is, the more 

 seeds are shed, so that in carting and removing it to the barn, 

 very much is unavoidably wasted. To obviate this in some 

 degree, many farmers thresh it on the ground where it grew, 

 either on a moveable flooring of boards, or on the bare earth, 

 though of course much earth and dirt must be mixed with it. 



C. — Do not the seeds that remain on the ground spring 

 up in the succeeding summer ? 



F. — So much so, that a good crop may be obtained from 

 merely this unintentional sowing. But this fact, the diffi- 

 culty of getting the soil clear of the plant, is, with many, an 

 objection to the raising of it, notwithstanding its productive 

 return. If, however, the land be stocked down with grass- 

 seed at the time buckwheat is sown, it will be rather an ad- 

 vantage than an injury; as whatever plants might spring 

 the succeeding year, would of course be mown down with the 

 grass, before the seed was perfected, and tend to increase the 

 herbage, cattle being very partial to the plant. It is an an- 

 nual, so that one mowing would effectually eradicate it. 



C. — Is this grain ground in the same manner as wheat ? 



F. — Yes ; but in a separate hopper : it is bolted, and 

 what remains consists of two parts, the three-sided brown 

 husk, and a pale yellow skin, which enveloped the flour ; 

 the latter is called the bran ; mixed with boiling water, it 

 forms a glutinous, bitterish mass, which is eagerly devoured 

 by hogs, and proves nutritive. The husk is thrown into the 

 mill-stream as totally useless. The American housewives 

 chiefly use buckwheat flour for making pancakes, eaten pip- 

 ing hot, and agreeable to many palates. 



C. — Though the nights are frosty, the days of this month 

 are very pleasant ; the sun has much power yet, and many 

 Lepidoptera are abroad enjoying it. Vanessa Antiopa, and 

 the different species of Grapta, in particular, are numerous 



