BUCKLE-HORNS. 



BUCKWiIEAT. 



buck hunting." This, according to Mr. Cha- 

 fing, in the reign of James II., was formerly 

 practised after dinner ; it was so fashionable, 

 and so generally delighted in at that period, that 

 even the judges on the circuit were accustomed 

 to partake in it. (Srott's Field $j>orts, p. 435.) 



BUCKLE-HORNS. A provincial name for 

 short crooked horns turning inward in a hori- 

 zontal manner. 



BUCKTHORN, COMMON (Rhammts ca- 

 thartints'). A hardy indigenous prickly shrub, 

 common in hedge rows in England; flowering 

 in May, and ripening its fruit in September. 

 The leaves have strong lateral nerves, are 

 ovate, toothed, with linear stipules; the flowers 

 are yellowish-green, and are succeeded by a 

 black berry, which is glossy, and the size of a 

 large pepper-corn, containing three or four 

 seeds, and a violet-red pulp. The bark is 

 glossy and dark-coloured. This shrub likes a 

 sheltered situation, and succeeds in any soil. 

 It is propagated by seed, layers, and grafts. 

 The juice of the unripe berries is a deep green 

 dye, if boiled with a little alum. The juice 

 contains a purgative principle, which enables 

 it to operate as a powerful cathartic; but its 

 action Is accompanied with much griping and 

 thirst. It was formerly often used as a domes- 

 tic purgative ; but the frequent violence of its 

 action has caused its disuse. 



The lUunnnus or buckthorn genus of plants 

 is very numerous, ten species being found in 

 the United States, chictly in the warmer parts. 

 The leaves of a species found in China, th- 

 l\liiini,n's tlici-znns, resemble those of the tea- 

 plant, and pass as a substitute for tea am<m^ 

 the indigent population of that count r 

 buckthorn family of plants are all either very 

 small trees or shrubs with the smaller branches 

 often terminating in spines or thorns, qualities 

 which fit them for hedges, for which purpose 

 the common buckthorn (Ilhantnus cathartinis) 

 is a favourite about Boston and other parts of 

 New England, where the English and Virginia 

 thorns will not stand the climate. The buck- 

 thorn, on the contrary, will grow in almost 

 any climate and upon every variety of soil. 



A species of rhamnus, called the bromUmrnl 

 alaternus, a native of the south of Europe, is 

 an ornament;;! evergreen, the blossoms of 

 which are greatly frequented by the honey- 

 bee. It is a rapid growing shrub, and useful 

 for thickening screens, clothing walls, <fcc. 



The sea or common sallow thorn, the Hip- 

 pophff rhamnoides of Linnaeus, is a very important 

 shrub, growing wild on sandy shores, in vari- 

 ous parts of the British coast, where it some- 

 times attains the height of eight or ten feet 

 Its bark 'is light brown, the wood white, the 

 small leaves of a sea-green colour, but silvery 

 white below. The leaves appear early in 

 spring; the yellow flowers in June and July; 

 the fine red berries late in autumn. 



In situations contiguous to the sea-shore, or 

 the banks of rivulets, this shrub eminently 

 deserves to be cultivated, as it is well calcu- 

 lated to bind a sandy soil, and to prevent the 

 water from penetrating through banks and 

 fences. It may be raised from seeds, but more 

 expeditiously by planting layers, or propagat- 

 ing it from the very abundant spreading roots. 



On account of ^s \horny points, it affords ex- 

 cellent hedges, even on a sandy soil. 



Although cows refuse the leaves of the sea- 

 buckthorn, yet they are browsed up*, n by goats, 

 sheep, and horses. The berries are strongly 

 acid, with an austere vinous flavour : in Lap- 

 land they are pickled and used as spice, but 

 the fishermen of the Gulph of Bothnia prepare 

 from them a rob, which, added to fresh fish, 

 imparts a very grateful flavour. 



From the leaves of this shrub, M. Suckow 

 obtained an agreeable dark-brown dye for wool 

 and silk, first treated with vitriol of iron (ro;j- 

 peras'): Dambourney succeeded in producing 

 a similar colour on cloth that had been pre- 

 viously steeju-d in a solution of bismuth. 



BUCKWHEAT (Germ, bwtnnizcn). The 

 name of a particular species of grain, of which, 

 for the sake of their seeds, there are two spe- 

 cies cultivated in Europe: 1. The common 

 buckwheat (Poly^onnm faxnj>yrnm}, PI. 3, g, 

 2. The Tartarian buckwheat (P. tutiirinnn), h; 

 and another in China and Tartary (P. owfnji- 

 natum), i. A new kind of buckwheat, known 

 to the peasants of Germany by the name of 

 U'tld Italian Imrkirhftit, they prefer to the com- 

 mon buckwheat, because it is more productive, 

 hardier, and has whiter and more savoury meal. 

 This is described in the Hull, ilr* NnV. dgr n 

 .fyn7,-18:n. (tlinirt. Jmn-n. Jgr. vol. iii. p. 368.) 

 Its flower is said to be deeper-coloured, and 

 smaller. 



Buckwheat is a plant known in almost every 

 part of the world. It has been supposed to 

 have been first known in Europe after the timft 

 of the Crusades. The French, in fact, call it 

 ble Sarrazin. In China, Japan, and Rn 

 forms a very considerable portion of the food 

 of the inhabitants; it is likewise generally 

 eaten in Switzerland and the southern parts of 

 France, and in Flanders it is a considerable 

 branch of husbandry. Gerard speaks of it as 

 cultivated in England about the year 1597, 

 particularly in the counties of Lancashire and 

 Cheshire. It appears, however, to have made 

 small progress in this kingdom, and has re- 

 ceived less attention than it deserves. It thrives 

 well in almost any dry soil, even those of the 

 poorest kinds : and in most of the arable dis- 

 tricts it is sown on the inferior sorts of land ; 

 as, when cultivated on the richer kinds of soil, 

 it is found to run too much to straw. It is 

 well adapted to light sandy lands. The quan- 

 tity of seed sown varies from five to eight 

 pecks per acre. Buckwheat is an annual. It 

 has a strong, cylindrical, reddish, branching 

 stem, about two feet in height, with alternate 

 ivy-shaped leaves ; the flowers, which are 

 white, tinged with red, are in bunches at the 

 | end of the branches, and are succeeded by 

 black angular seeds. Its flowers are very at- 

 tractive to bees. It begins flowering in July, 

 and is generally fit to mow about the beginning 

 of October. If put together, says Mr. Main, a 

 little green or damp, it does not much signify; 

 for, although ever so mouldy, the grain is never 

 damaged, and the more mouldy it is, the earlier 

 it can be thrashed. It is the easiest of all barn- 

 work for the thrasher. (Quart. Journ. Agr. voL 

 vii. p. 180.) 



In England, the proper time for sowing 



