BUCKWHEAT 115 



being cut the plant is loosely bound in sheaves and 

 left in the field to cure. It is then threshed and 

 without stacking. If stacked, it tends to gather 

 moisture and in this way the seed is injured. 



The three varieties best known are the Silver Hull, 

 Japanese and the Common. At the Massachusetts 

 station, the three varieties developed in about 74 

 days and yielded in the order named. The Iowa 

 station states that the Japanese buckwheat is much 

 superior to the other two varieties. There seems 

 to be little difference in the value of either for 

 making flour. The use of buckwheat as a poultry 

 feed is becoming more popular each year, perhaps 

 due to the success that poultrymen in France have 

 had with the seed. The general claim seems to be 

 that buckwheat promotes egg production early in 

 the winter season and gives a good flavor to the 

 meat. 



BUR CLOVER. A splendid legume for improv- 

 ing worn-out lands. It is grown to some extent in 

 the South, but not nearly so much as it should be. 

 It is an annual, having 15 to 60 branches from 15 

 to 30 inches in length. The flowers are yellow and 

 the seed is borne in prickly burs with three to five 

 seeds in a pod. To grow bur clover successfully on 

 a soil that has never grown it before, it is generally 

 unnecessary to resort to artificial inoculation. On 

 such land soil inoculation will generally be com- 

 plete by the beginning of the second year. If the 

 burs are not gathered up from the soil, bacteria are 

 abundantly supplied. This crop does its best on 

 the heavier types of sandy soil which are under- 

 laid by clay subsoil and which are generally moist, 

 but it grows well on the lighter types of sandy soil 

 as well as on soils of other character. 



