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VEGETABLE SUBSTANCE?. 



Buck-wheat Polygonum fagopyrum. 



monly grows to the height of about thirty inches. 

 At almost every joint of the stalk, lateral branches 

 shoot out, which are terminated by purplish flowers, 

 and these are succeeded by small triangular-shaped 

 seeds, which are of a brownish-black colour on the 

 outside, and white within. This grain is usually sown 

 in May or June, and is of such rapid growth that it 

 generally ripens its seeds within about one hundred 

 days from the lime of sowing. It will thrive in any 

 soil, even in those which contain little else than 

 sand. The largest increase is, however, obtained 

 from dry ground, which has been thoroughly ploughed 

 and pulverized; and in such circumstances as much 

 as fifty or sixty bushels have been reaped from an 



