1864 



THE ILLINOIS FAKMER. 



235 



Culture of Buckwheat. 



The following article which we copy from the 

 Utica Herald, we presume is from the pen of X. A 

 Willard, Esq., of Ileikimer county. 



The best soil for buckwheat is a dry, light, san- 

 dy loam, but it may be grown on almost »ny land 

 if properly prepared. As an exterminator of weeds 

 the plant can be employed to good purpose. The 

 daisy, Canada thistle and quuek, (switch gniss), 

 can be destroyed by plowing in raid-summer, and 

 roasting the roots by exposing them to the rays of 

 the hot sun, while the rapid growth of the buck- 

 wheat overshadows and smothers out what remains 

 alive of these pests, more especially if the crop be 

 followed by clover or oats. 



The following method has been found efiectual 

 in cleansing out quack from grounds overrun with 

 this troublesome grasps Plow in the fall and again 

 in the spring, then harrow at intervals of a week 

 or oftener, as the quack grows up to the middle of 

 June. Sow the buckwheat by ihe 1st of July, and 

 if the land is not rich use manure, so as to grow a 

 heavy crop of straw ; this will smother out the 

 quack. Buckwheat straw' if cut i>efore frost, is 

 very palat;iblc to cattle aud.^hei-p, and can be used 

 with advantage during the early season of fodder- 

 ing. Many people throw the straw away or pile it 

 up for m inure. This is bad economy, as it can be 

 used, and thereby be a saving to the hay mow. 



When sown for a foitilizer or for fodder, two 

 bushels of seed should be sown to the acre. As a 

 fertiliz T it is not so valuable as clover, but has 

 one advantage, inasmuch as it can be ;;rown on 

 land where ciover could not be profitably employ- 

 ed for that purpose. It should be turned deep un- 

 der the soil while the planis are in blossom, and 

 when used in this way rapidly enriches the land. 

 Buckwheat forms a very good "pa-turage for bees," 

 and the api irian can m-.iko it worth while to grow 

 the crop for that purpose. The honey made from 

 buckwheat is iiiferior to that made frjm clover, 

 and this is in part compensated by extra quantity 

 ynd the rapidity by which the stores are g-thered. 

 Some years during the clover season it is so rainy 

 that bees are unable to gather their supply of hon- 

 ey A field of buckwheat may then prove the 

 means of saving the swarm through the winter. 

 Last year was a season of this character, and hun- 

 dreds of swarms were unable to collect enough 

 food for winter ; hence there were immense losses 

 ofswaims. But we have observed in several in- 

 stances when buckwheat fields were convenient 

 last season to the apiary, the loss of swarnis was 

 le.ss, and in many cases no more than u-ual. In 

 Europe ihe plant is extensively grown as food for 

 bees. 



Buckwheat requires care in harvesting to pre- 

 vent loss from shaking off the seeds, more than anv 

 any other crop. Some writers recommend cutting 

 as eooii as one-third the seed are turned brown ; 

 others s ly two-thirds. If we wait for all to ripen, 

 the earliest and best part of the grain is lost. Per- 

 haps the best plan is to cut when one-half the seed 

 are turned brown ; the unripened grain then draws 

 enough nutriment from the straw, which is succu- 

 lent arul juicy, to fill out and mature the grain af- 

 ter it is cut. The most approved method of har- 

 vesting is to cut with a cradle, rake the straw into 



bundles and set np. It will be often necessary for 

 them to remain in the field for a week or two be- 

 fjie they are fufiicicntly cured. When ready to 

 be carted from the field the grain should be thresh- 

 ed out immediately, or as soon as may be after the 

 loads reach the barn. The maximum yield of buck- 

 wheat is fioin 40 to 50 bushels per acre ; from 25 

 to 30 bu-h(ls is considered a fair crop. The suc- 

 cess of buckwheat is affected by the weather to 

 which it is exposed in the several stages of its 

 growth. In this state it is more susceptible than 

 any other kind of grain. In growing the crop suc- 

 cessfully much depends not only on the general 

 state of the weather throughout the season, but al- 

 so on the particular time which may have been 

 chosen for sowing. A week earlier or later often 

 makes a very great difference, and yet, notwith- 

 standing this uncertainty the crop, it is believed, 

 all things considered, is one of the most remunera- 

 tive a farmer can grow. 



Stupidity of Farmers. 



A great deal of gospel is preached in the world, 

 but few hear, and fewer still believe. It is our 

 humble duty to add line upon line and precept up- 

 on precept from tinie to time. So we shall contin- 

 ue to do, even though not one is saved from the 

 error of his way. We always travel through the 

 country with both eyes open, and the head on a 

 pivot. What a book ! Every farm is a chapter ; 

 an autobiography, so to speak, of individuals. — 

 Many dwellings (?) have around them but little of 

 the ornamental ; some pigs, geese and hens. Oth- 

 ers have a few currant bushes generously fed on — 

 grass. Others have more pretensions to taste — 

 some trees and shrubs thrust stake-like into the 

 sod, and tryiug to live under the infliction. Some 

 farms have splendid residences, finished elaborate- 

 ly, glaring in white, and not a shrub of small fruit 

 within sight ! What a place to stay. No ''straw- 

 berry patch" with half hidden fruit ; or raspberry 

 bushes with their deftly hidden dainties , no plums 

 to hang from the budding branches ; no cherries 

 to tempt the taste ; no— nothing ! The man will 

 show his house, his horse barn, hog pen and ten- 

 ants, etc., and flatter himself that he is one of the 

 "good livers !" 



A thousand such dwellings would not tempt us. 

 He is a fool who builds such a house, and so ignores 

 the good gifts which God has vouchsafed to all. 

 The country is full of such, however, and of such 

 farms and dwellings. 



Sugar from the Butternut, 



The Farmer's Club, of the American Institute, 

 New York, is one of the best practical associa- 

 tions in our country, having for its object the dis- 

 cussion of the every-day occupation of the agricul- 

 turist. 



At the meeting, April 19th, among the subjects 

 of discussion, we notice "Sugar from the Butter- 

 nut tree." The President, while discussing the 

 matter of maple sugar and its production, remark- 

 ed that as much sugar could be made from the 

 Butternut tree as from the Sugar Maple, and the 

 President gave it as his opinion, that the flavor of 

 the former was preferable. 



Why do not our farmers plant forests of Sugar 

 Maple and Butternut trees also ? Why do not obf 



