BUCK-WHEAT. 123 



acre on which only one bushel of seed has been 

 bestowed. 



This plant is more generally cultivated for the sake 

 of its green fodder, and then the seed is strewn much 

 thicker, as much as three or four bushels being 

 allotted to the acre. If the season is forward, and 

 the weather continues warm, buck-wheat may be 

 sown for this purpose in April, and will bear cutting 

 twice during the summer ; but the slightest degree 

 of frost will destroy it entirely. When it is thus 

 intended to apply the plant as green meat, a sufficient 

 quantity should be cut one day for the consumption 

 of the next. The state most proper for cutting is 

 when the blossoms are making their appearance. 



All animals are fond of this food, and will thrive 

 upon it. When given to cows it causes them to 

 yield an abundance of excellent milk, which makes 

 good butter and cheese. The stalk and leaves will 

 continue green during the driest weather, even when 

 all the grasses in the meadows are burnt up. The 

 straw or haulm is sometimes given in a dry state to 

 cattle, but is not then so useful as when green. 



.Buck-wheat is also sometimes sown in order that 

 the plants may be ploughed into the ground, and 

 serve as manure in the process of bringing lands into 

 proper order for other crops. The time most proper 

 for this ploughing is when the blossoms are full upon 

 the plants, as they are then in their most succulent 

 state. The land is then left at rest for some months, 

 during which time the vegetable matter of the buck- 

 wheat becomes fermented and decomposed. The 

 variety known as Tartarian buck-wheat Pohjgonum 

 talaricum, being of more luxuriant growth than 

 the common sort, fagopyrum, has been preferably 

 recommended for this object. 



JBirds are exceedingly fond of the seeds, and one 

 of the principal uses made of them in this country is 

 to feed pheasants during the winter, in spots set apart 



