38 PROPERTIES OF BUCKWHEAT. 



countries the meal is mixed with a small proportion of wheat flour 

 and made into bread. In other places it is converted into malt for 

 making beer and ardent spirits, especially in Dantzic. 



This plant is an annual with handsome flowers and stem. The flow- 

 ers are used for coloring brown, and are a great favorite with bees. 

 Its culture has been recommended where bees are raised, principally 

 for their use. The seed is sown in May or June, and its culture is 

 attended with little labor or care. Although it readily matures, gen- 

 erally within 100 days, yet it is liable to be affected by early frosts, of 

 which it is very susceptible. 



The growth of Buckwheat is best on light, mellow and dry soils, 

 where it yields from 40 to 60 bushels to the acre, on which from 1 to 

 3 bushels only have been sown. It makes excellent fodder in a green 

 state. In a forward season, if sown in April, two crops may be ob- 

 tained. It is generally cut for fodder when the blossoms are begin- 

 ning to appear. Cows thrive well on it and yield an abundance of 

 good milk for butter. It sustains heat better than other grains. It 

 is sometimes ploughed in, when the flowers are full, manuring the 

 ground for other crops ; and in three or four months, it has become 

 thoroughly decomposed. The Tartarian Buckwheat is of very luxu- 

 riant growth and is most highly recommended. 



Fowls, horses, and swine are very fond of this grain and fatten well 

 upon it, but for the two latter it should be crushed. It is said that 

 swine, when first fed on the fresh plant, exhibit marked signs of in- 

 toxication. It yields a considerable quantity of good spirit and is 

 used for this purpose by distillers in Europe. Bread is also made of 

 it mixed with wheat flour. Some of the species are used medicinally, 

 and many are incorrigible weeds in temperate climates. P. hydro- 

 piper is a powerful diuretic, and dyes woollen cloth of a yellow color. 

 P. tinctorum is cultivated in China for dying a beautiful blue and green. 

 B. bistota, snake-weed, is one of the strongest astringents, and may 

 be used for tanning. The young shoots have been eaten in herb pud- 

 dings and as greens. The roots of P. viviparum are likewise eaten 

 and the flowers change into bulbs. P. aviculare has grateful seeds 

 like the cultivated kind, and is the knot-grass of the English or hog- 

 weed. It is eaten greedily by most animals. 



Leaves heart arrow-shaped ; stem upright, without prickles ; angles 

 of seeds even ; roots fibrous rather succulent ; stem zig-zag, leafy, 

 downy on one side ; leaves entire acute, smooth ; flowers handsome, 

 numerous, red and white, in clusters. April to October. Remarka- 

 ble for the number and variety of stamens in the species. 



It will be seen that nearly two-thirds of the crop in the United 

 States is raised in New-York, Pennsylvania, and New- Jersey. The 

 increase during the past year in New- York was from 20 to 30 per 

 cent., and in Pennsylvania it was in advance of former years. Little 



