872 PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE. Part III, 



May, if seed is the object, and till June if it is to be plotighed irr. It will grow on 

 any soil, but only produce a good crop on one that is tolerably rich. It is considered 

 one of the best crops to sow along with grass seed ; and yet, (however inconsistent,) 

 the voluminous writer last quoted, endeavours to prove, that buck-wheat, from the 

 closeness of its growth at the top, smothers and destroy weeds, whilst clover and 

 grass -seeds receive considerable benefit by the shade it affords them from the piercing 

 heat of the sun ! ! 



5492. The season of solving cannot be considered earlier than the last week of April 

 or first of May, as the young plants are very apt to be destroyed by frost. The mode iss 

 always broad-cast, and the quantity of seed a bushel per acre ; it is harrowed in, and 

 requires no other culture than pulling out the larger weeds, and guarding from birds 

 till the reaping season. 



5493. Buck-wheat is harvested by mowing in the manner of barley. After it is 

 mown, it must lie several days, till the stalks be withered, before it be housed. It is in no 

 danger of the seeds falling, nor does it suffer much by wet. From its great succulency 

 it is liable to heat, on which account it is better to put it in small stacks of five or six 

 loads eacli, than in either a large one or a barn. 



5494. The produce of the grain of this plant may be stated upon the average, at be- 

 tween three and four quarters per acre ; it would be considerably more did all the grains 

 ripen together, but that never appears to be the case, as some parts of the same plant 

 will be in flower, whilst others have perfected their seed. 



5495. The use of the grain of buck- wheat in this country, is almost entirely for feeding poultry, pigeons, 

 and swine It may also be given to horses, which are said to thrive well on it; but the author of The 

 New Farmefs Calendar, says, he thinks he has seen it produce a stupefying effect. It has been used in 

 the distillery in England, and is a good deal used in that way, and also as horse-corn on the continent. 

 Young says, a bushel goes farther than two bushels of oats, and mixed with at least four times as 

 much bran, will be full feed for any horse a week. Four bushels of the meal, put up at four hnndred 

 weight, will fatten a hog of sixteen or twenty stone in three weeks, giving him afterwards three bushels 

 of Indian corn or hog-pease, broken in a mill, with plenty of water. Eight bushels of buck-wheat 

 meal will go as far as twelve bushels of barley meal. 



5496. The meal of buck-wheat is made into thin cakes called crumpits in Italy and even in some parts of 

 England, and it is supposed to be nutritious, and not apt to turn acid upon the stomach. ( Withering.) 



5497. The blossoms of this plant afford a rich repast to bees, both from the quantity of honey they con- 

 tain, and from their long duration. On this account it is much prized in France and Germany, and 

 Du Hamel advises bee farmers to carry their hives to fields of this crop in the autumn, as well as to' heatb 

 lands. 



5498. The haulm of buck-wheat is said to be more nourishing than clover when cut 

 while in flower. Banister says, it has a peculiar inebriating quality. He has seen 

 hogs which have fed heartily on it, come home in such a state of intoxication as to be 

 unable to walk without reeling. The dried haulm is not eaten readily by any descrip- 

 tion of animal, and affords but very little manure. On the whole, the crop is of most . 

 value when ploughed in green for the latter purpose. As a seed crop, the author of Tim 

 Nexu Farmer s Calendar, seems justified in saying, it is only valuable on land that will 

 grow nothing else. The Polygonum tartaricum has been recommended for field culture, 

 but Von Thaer, who tried it repeatedly, found its produce quite insignificant. 



SuBSECT. 4. Of other Plants used in Domestic Economy ; which are or may he cultivated 



in the Fields. 



5499. Many garden plants might be cultivated in the fields, especially near large' 

 towns where manure is easily procured, and a demand for the produce exists. Among 

 such plants may be mentioned the cress, parsley, onion, leek, lettuce, radish, &c. There 

 are also some plants which enter into the agriculture of foreign countries where the 

 climate is not dissimilar to our own, which might be very effectually cultivated in this 

 country were it desirable. Among these are the tobacco and the chiccory, the latter for 

 its roots as a substitute for coffee. The lettuce might be grown for its milky juice, as a 

 substitute for, or rather a variety of opium. Of dwarf fruits, as the strawberry, currant, 

 gooseberry, raspberry, &c. we add nothing here, having already alluded to them in 

 treating of orchards. 



5500. The agriculturist who attemplts to grow any of the above plants, can hardly expect 

 to succeed unless his knowledge extends beyond the mere routine of country husbandry, 

 either by reading and the study of the nature of vegetables, or by some experience in 

 the practice of gardening. No farmer on a moderately extensive scale will find it worth 

 while to attempt such productions, whatever may be his knowledge or resources; 

 and for the garden-farmer, or the curious or speculative amateur, we would recommend 

 observation and enquiry round the metropolis, and the reading of books on horticulture. 

 All that we shall do here, will be to give some indications of the culture and manage-2 

 ment of cress, chiccory, and tobacco. 



5501. The garden cress {Lepidum sativum, L.), too well known to require any descrip- 

 tion^ Is grown in the fields in Essex, the seed being in some demand in the London market* 



