AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



793 



Cultivation of Buckwheat. 



Mr. Ernest Heald, Grinnell, Iowa, asks 

 us to publish, in the Bee Journal, an 

 article on the sowing and harvesting of 

 buckwheat, which he desires to obtain 

 for bee-pasturage. In reply, we print 

 the following from an exchange, which 

 gives full particulars about its planting, 

 care and marketing : 



The grain is one of the best for feeding 

 all animals, but pigs especially ; the bran 

 or refuse after grinding is better food 

 than any other, and while the straw is 

 not adapted for feeding, it is, when used 

 as other straw, as free from objection in 

 any way as other straws are. 



This crop may be grown in the shortest 

 season. It may be sown from June to 

 July. The 12th of the latter month is 

 the favored time where the grain is 

 grown for making flour for sale, and 

 where its quality is held to be superior 

 to that produced in any other locality. 



The best soil is a stony gravel. A 

 considerable quantity of limestone in the 

 soil seems favorably to affect the quality 

 of the grain for flour. But in all cases I 

 have given it as good care as the corn or 

 oat crop. 



I have cut the clover late in June, 

 turned the sod under after a few showers 

 have started a new growth, and sowed 

 buckwheat in July, seeding with clover 

 and timothy ; have taken a crop yielding 

 $40 or $50 per acre, and the next year 

 have cut hay. 



The preparation of the land and the 

 sowing of the seed are too commonly 

 thought to be immaterial, but this is a 

 great mistake. Good plowing and har- 

 rowing and covering in the seed are 

 essential to a good yield. 



As the early Fall frosts are most to be 

 avoided, a quick start and rapid growth 

 are necessary to this end, and will mature 

 the crop before any danger need be 

 apprehended. 



As the grain contains considerable 

 lime, phosphoric acid and sulphur, 9^, 

 6 and 2% pounds in 1,000 pounds of 

 fresh substance, superphosphate of lime, 

 which contains all these, is the best 

 fertilizer, and has a far better result 

 than yard manure, which tends to luxu- 

 riant growth and stalk and foliage 

 rather than to grain, and delays the 

 ripening of tlie seed. 



Thin sowing — not more than a peck of 

 seed to the acre — tends to the growth of 



side branches which bear a profusion 

 of bloom, and largely increases the yield. 

 Thick sowing, on the other hand, forces 

 a tall single stem, with less bloom and 

 seed. 



It is a popular belief that the bees 

 detract from the yield of the crop. I 

 have never found it so, but have been 

 confirmed in the belief that the bees are 

 really beneficial in securing the most 

 complete fertilization of the blossoms, 

 with a corresponding increase of grain, 

 and while neighbors have gathered from 

 my work a plentiful yield of honey, this 

 has never been begrudged them from 

 " dog-in-the-manger" objections. 



HARVESTING. 



The harvesting of the crop requires 

 special care. Buckwheat cannot be 

 stored in a barn. The succulent natur^^ 



BUCKWHEAT BLOSSOM. 



of the plant prohibits this, for it tends to 

 rapid fermentation and heating, and 

 seriously injures the quality of the grain 

 by decomposing the starch in it. The 

 flour is heavy, and does not rise when 

 made from grain which has been suffered 

 to heat, either while in the straw or the 

 granary. 



The crop is cut at the time when the 

 grain is mostly ripe. Some of it will yet 

 be green, and some bloom on the stalks 

 will remain as long as the plant stands. 

 Hence, when frost may be expected, the 

 crop should be cut. 



Much of the green seeds will ripen in 

 the swath and the gavel. A gavel is a 

 small sheaf not tied up, and this is 

 necessary to the curing of the straw. A 

 cradle, or a reaper which drops in an 

 even swath, is used for the cutting. The 

 grain lies several days in this way if the 

 weather is fine, and is then raked up ir 



