BUCKWHEAT 191 



plant is killed by frost. The plant at harvest, therefore, 

 may contain both flowers and mature seeds. A field of 

 buckwheat in bloom is a beautiful sight and furnishes 

 pasture for all sorts of bees and nectar-loving insects. 



The mature seed is three-angled, inclosed in hull of 

 gray or brown color, and varies in size with the variety, 

 usually being about one-tenth of an inch along each 

 edge. The legal weight per bushel in most states is 48 

 pounds. 



178. Uses. — Buckwheat cakes have long been accorded 

 a place of high favor on the breakfast menu of winter days. 

 Formerly their excellence was known only to the rural 

 population, but now they have won a place of favor 

 on the tables of the city dwellers. Almost all of the 

 buckwheat produced is used in the making of buck- 

 wheat flour, which now commands a high price on the 

 market. Buckwheat middlings, a by-product of the 

 milling of the flour, are highly prized for stock food. 

 The straw, if protected from the weather, is readily 

 eaten by live stock. 



179. Production. — The buckwheat crop in the United 

 States for the ten years 1903-1912 shows an annual average 

 production of approximately 16 million bushels. Only 

 about 800 thousand acres are devoted to this crop, almost 

 all of which are in the northeast quarter of the United 

 States, Pennsylvania and New York producing in 1912 

 over 80 per cent of the total crop. Other states producing 

 relatively large amounts are, Michigan, with 1 million 

 bushels, West Virginia, with 880 thousand bushels, 

 Virginia, 516 thousand, Ohio, 410 thousand, Wisconsin, 290 

 thousand, and Maryland, 210 thousand bushels. Other 

 states having small acreages of buckwheat are the New 

 England States, Illinois, Indiana, Minnesota, and Iowa. 



