AGRICULTURAL INDUSTRIES 159 



the spring growth turned under for manure. In the 

 dairy region where the soiling system is used, rye 

 is the first crop available in spring. It is now much 

 recommended for seeding with hairy vetch as a green- 

 manure crop. They grow together very well, the rye 

 serving to hold up the trailing vetch, and the sup- 

 port promotes the growth of the latter. They are 

 ready to be plowed under about the same time in 

 spring and usually in season for planting a regular 

 crop. 



While New York stands at the head of the list 

 in the production of buckwheat, the acreage of that 

 crop is fourth among the cereals. Wheat and also 

 oats and corn stand above. The competition for 

 third place is fairly close with wheat, in some years, 

 exceeding buckwheat. The acreage now approaches 

 280,000 but may fluctuate widely in difi'erent years. 

 This is probably because it is an emergency crop and 

 is put in where the land is wet, or where for other 

 reasons the regular crop has failed. As a general 

 average, the acreage has not clianged materially in 

 the last forty years. It has dropped a few thousand 

 acres. Pennsylvania is a close second in acreage and 

 in a few years has exceeded New York. The high 

 tide of production in the country was in the sixties, 

 but the statistics do not show that New York pro- 

 duced much more than at present. In several years 

 through the intervening period, it has exceeded 

 300,000 acres. 



The production is nearly all in the lower half of 

 the State. The two main centers are the southwest- 



