BUCKWHEAT. 315- 



Diseases. — Flax-Wilt {F. lini ISolley). — The spores are 

 carried over in the soil, on dried stems, and by adhering to 

 the seed. For this disease the formalin treatment and rota- 

 tion are recommended. 



Flax-rust {Melampsora lini) is fairly common, but is 

 seldom serious. 



The flax plant has no serious insect pests. 



EEFERENCES: 



Flax Cultivation." — South African Journal of Industries, November 



and December, 1919. 



Field Crops." — Wilson and Warburton. 



Cyclopedia of American Agriculture," pp. 293-302. 



Flax Culture."— U.S. Dept. of Agric. Bulletin 274. 



Resistant Seed Flax and How to Get it."' — North Dakota Bui. 23. 



BUCKWHEAT (Fagopyrum Spp.). 



Buckwheat has not been in general cultivation so long as 

 the cereals, and in China it was not grown for human con- 

 sumption until after the Christian Era. It is grown exten- 

 sively in Europe and North America, and with success in most 

 parts of South Africa. It occurs in the wild state in 

 Manchuria. 



Description. — Buckwheat belongs to the Polygonacese, 

 a family having angular, three-sided seeds. It has a strong 

 central tap-root, no tillers, but many branches, somewhat tri- 

 angular leaves, white flowers, and green to purple stems. 

 There are three species in cultivation : — 



(1) Common or Japanese (F. csculentum). Vars. : 

 Japanese, Silverhull, Gray. 



Key to V.\rieties of Common Buckwheat. 



Faces of grain slightly concave ; angles extended into 

 very short wings — Common Gray. 



Faces of grain flat ; angles not extended into wings, grain 

 small and plump — Silver Hull. 



Grain large and not so plump — Japanese. 



