CHAPTER VIII 

 BUCKWHEAT 



BUCKWHEAT is not a true cereal but is usually classified 

 as such by grain men. The name is of German origin and 

 is probably a corruption of the German buchweizen which 

 means beechwheat. The shape of the kernel of buck- 

 wheat resembles the beechnut, and the starch within the 

 kernel resembles wheat starch, hence the name. Buck- 

 wheat belongs to the same family as the well-known bind- 

 weed, smartweed, knotweed, sorrel, and yellow dock. It 

 may have been developed from one of the bindweeds, 

 sometimes called wild buckwheat. 



Varieties. There are three distinct varieties : common 

 buckwheat, notch-seeded buckwheat, and Siberian or 

 Tartary buckwheat. The common buckwheat is the one 

 of greatest importance. To this species belong the Silver 

 Hull, the Japanese, and the common gray varieties.. These 

 are grown most extensively in this country. The Silver 

 Hull seems to be most popular with millers, some of whom 

 claim that it makes more and better flour than the other 

 varieties. Some growers contend that the Japanese is a 

 heavier yielder and will stand more sunshine and hot 

 weather without injury than will the Silver Hull. 



Habits of Growth. The buckwheat seed puts forth but 

 a single erect shoot which branches treelike above the 

 ground and grows to a height of three feet. The root 



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