BUCKWHEAT, RICE, FLAX, ETC. 221 



unless the drill hoes are close together. The later buckwheat is sown so as 

 to get ripe before frost, the better the yield will be. It is seldom advisable 

 to seed earlier than the last week in June, and in some localities it may be 

 seeded as late as the second week in July. 



Fertilizers and Rotations. — Buckwheat seeded on poor land responds 

 well to a moderate dressing of low-grade fertilizer. On heavy soils where it 

 is desired to grow potatoes, buckwheat is recommended as a good crop 

 to precede potatoes. The following rotation is recommended for such soils: 

 clover, buckwheat, potatoes, oats or wheat seeded with clover. With 

 this arrangement the first crop of clover is harvested early and the land 

 immediately plowed and seeded to buckwheat. This gives two crops 

 during the season preceding potatoes, and leaves the land in excellent 

 condition for potatoes. 



Harvesting and Threshing. — The harvesting of buckwheat should be 

 delayed until the approach of cold weather, because the plants continue 

 to bloom and produce seed until killed by frost. The self-rake reaper is 

 well adapted to cutting buckwheat. The machine used should leave the 

 buckwheat in compact gavels with as little shattering as possible. The 

 self-binder is sometimes used, being set to deliver small bundles loosely 

 bound. However it may be harvested, it should be set upright in the field 

 so as to prevent the grain lying on the ground. It is customary to haul the 

 grain directly from the field to the threshing machine, as it is likely to mould 

 when placed in stacks. 



In threshing by machinery, neither the crop nor the day need be 

 especially dry. The spiked concave of the thresher is generally replaced 

 with a smooth one or a suitable plank. This avoids serious cracking of the 

 grain and unnecessary breaking of the straw. 



Buckwheat weighs 48 pounds to the bushel, and 35 bushels per acre is- 

 considered a good yield, while 25 bushels is satisfactory . The average yield 

 of buckwheat in the United States is 18 to 19 bushels per acre. 



Uses of Buckwheat. — Buckwheat is used chiefly in the manufacture 

 of pancake flour. In some sections, and especially when the market price 

 is low, it is used quite extensively for feeding livestock. It is an excellent 

 poultry feed. The straw, being coarse and stiff, is of little value except for 

 bedding or to make manure. 



In some localities buckwheat is used as a green manuring crop. It 

 serves well for this purpose because it grows quickly, may occupy the land 

 after an early crop is removed, and leaves the soil in a loose condition. 

 The seed being comparatively inexpensive and requiring only a moderate 

 amount, makes it inexpensive from the standpoint of seeding. It is fre- 

 quently used as a catch crop, being seeded in fields where other crops fail 

 from whatever cause. 



Buckwheat is an excellent bee feed. It blossoms for a considerable 

 period of time and affords an abundance of nectar which makes honey of 

 good quality. 



