THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW. 



185 



on for safe wintering. The painful thing 

 is that one after another they will keep 

 slipping from under one. But it is re- 

 assuring that the prop will not be lonely if 

 you are — someone else will lean on it. 

 Chrysostom ( A. B. J., 211 ) promptly 

 takes up artificial heat and pure air; and 

 adds sunshine; all v^ery good in their 

 place, but sure to prove broken reeds to 

 any trusting one whose bees get a stock 

 of unsound winter stores. 



Lapeer, Mich. May 26, 1898. 



EXTRT^OXED. 



BUCKWHEAT. 



The Preparation of the Soil and the Seed. 



Buckwheat is called the lazy man's 

 crop, because, no matter how poor the 

 cultivation, he is pretty sure to get some- 

 thing. But I find tliere is no crop that 

 responds quicker to ^'ftJ^/ treatment. The 

 cultivation of buckwheat for grain or hon- 

 ey is the same; but in selection of soil, and 

 time of sowing, there is a material differ- 

 ence. To yield honey freely, the soil 

 must be strong enough to produce a good 

 crop of corn or potatoes. A field that, 

 with good cultivation, would produce a 

 good crop of grain, nine times out of ten 

 would not furnish a crop of honey. 



If I were sowing expressly for honey, 

 I should proceed as follows: If the field to 

 be sown were greensward, I would plow 

 it as soon as the frost left the ground in 

 the spring, and let it lie until about the 

 first of June. At that time I would select 

 some very warm day, and go over it sev- 

 eral times with a two-horse cultivator. 

 My reason for taking a warm day is, that 

 I would be sure to kill all weeds and grass. 

 If the field had been cropped the previous 

 season, I would cross-plow in place of 

 cultivating. 



Buckwheat is such a quick-growing 

 crop, the point is to get the soil loose and 

 light as deep as the roots go, and also 

 have the surface pulverized very fine for 

 a seed-bed. The time for sowing with us 

 is the tenth of June, but would vary ac- 

 cording to locality. In average seasons 

 the bees commence storing honey 45 days 

 after sowing; and as there should not be 

 a break between bass wood and buck- 

 wheat, it would be impossible to fix a 



date. The seed should be soaked 24 

 hours, and then rolled" in plaster or quick- 

 lime; this insures an even catch, and also 

 gives the young plants a start. The quan- 

 tity of seed for smooth ground would be 

 half a bushel per acre; for rough and un- 

 even ground, double the amount will be 

 required. Most grain, where a small 

 quantity of seed is sown, will send up 

 several stalks from each grain. Buck- 

 wheat sends up but one from this main 

 stalk. Side branches are thrown out, on 

 which the bulk of the crop is matured; 

 and unless the surface of the ground is 

 very smooth, the stalk can not be cut be- 

 low the side branches. When more seed 

 is used per acre, the branches are thrown 

 out nearer the top of the stalk, and there 

 is less trouble in harvesting. 



In regard to soil: If I could have just 

 what I wanted, it would be a sandy loam. 

 When grain is the only object, I would 

 sow the fifteenth of July. I have had a 

 good yield of grain when sown early; but 

 on an average, my late sowing does much 

 the better. —H. T. Bishop in Cleavings 

 for 1882. 



THE CULTIVATION OE BUCKWHEAT. 



It is the "Lazy man" Crop," but it well Rt 



pays all care and Thoroughness in 



Cultivation. 



Buckwheat is a crop which costs but 

 little, either for manure, labor, or seed; 

 and it is a very convenient crop where- 

 with to occupy land that could not be 

 planted with any spring crop in proper 

 season, on account of the hurry of spring 

 work, unfavorable weather, or want of 

 help. Besides, the grain can always be 

 readily marketed, and at prices nmch 

 more "renmnerative tlian those of the 

 corn crop, when the extra labor of culti- 

 vating the latter is taken into considera- 

 tion. It has been remarked, that buck- 

 wheat "favors slack husbandry, being 

 proverbially the lazy man's crop." This 

 may be true to some extent, as fair crops 

 are sometimes grown on quite inferior or 

 worn soils, and with but very little prep- 

 aration. In fact, the opinion appears to 

 prevail among many farmers, that this 

 crop will do well on land hastily and im- 

 perfectly plowed, at any time when most 

 convenient, and ]nit in in a slovenly, slip- 

 shod manner, without the ordinary care 

 and labor bestowed on other and perhaps 

 less important crops. It deserves good 

 cultivation, however, and I think ni)^ 



