218 



BUCKWHEAT 



BUCKWHEAT 



The common buckwheat is the most valuable 

 and the most widely grown form. It is met with 

 wild in China and Siberia and enters into the agri- 

 culture of every country where grain crops are 

 cultivated. In China it has been grown and used 

 for food from time immemorial. In Japan it is held 

 in general esteem and in Russia it is also largely 



French chef. In some persons, buckwheat tends to 

 produce irritation of the skin when freely eaten. 



Composition. 



The following table, compiled by Hunt, shows 

 the composition of the grain, straw, flour, middlings 

 and hulls of buckwheat : 



Fifi. 311. Buckwheat (Fagopyrum eseulentum). 



consumed. It has been cultivated for centuries in 

 England, France, Spain, Italy and Germany. In all 

 the European countries it is consumed chiefly by 

 the poorer classes, but it has remained for the 

 American housewife to learn how to prepare it so 

 as to please the palate of the epicure. The buck- 

 wheat pancake is a peculiarly American preparation. 

 Formerly, buckwheat constituted the major part 

 of the bread diet of the greater part of the rural 

 population of the New England and Middle States 

 in the winter season. It has now won its way to 

 the breakfast-table of the city resident as well, 

 and when served hot with maple syrup it is con- 

 sidered the peer of the flnest productions of the 



Owing to its thick, heavy hull, buckwheat con- 

 tains a larger percentage of crude fiber than the 

 cereal grains. The percentage of protein and 

 nitrogen-free extract is somewhat lower than in 

 the case of wheat. Buckwheat flour contains only 

 about two-thirds as much protein as wheat flour. 

 The straw of buckwheat contains a somewhat 

 higher percentage of protein and crude fiber and a 

 lower percentage of nitrogen-free extract than 

 wheat straw. Buckwheat middlings, because of 

 its high percentage of protein and fat, is in great 

 demand as a food for dairy cows. The hulls are so 

 hard and indigestible that they are not often used 

 for animal food, although the analysis would sug- 

 gest that they have some feeding value. 



Production. 



The high-water mark in the production of buck- 

 wheat in the United States seems to have been 

 reached in 1866, when the crop, as reported by the 

 United States Department of Agriculture, was 22,- 

 791,839 bushels. The average crop for the five 

 years, 1866 to 1870, was 18,257,428 bushels. The 

 average yield for the five years, 1901 to 1905, was 

 14,898,361 bushels. While the total production in 

 the United States has not 

 equaled in recent years that 

 of the sixties, the crop in the 

 states of chief production has 

 increased in volume. New 

 York and Pennsylvania now 

 produce more than two-thirds 

 of the total crop of the United 

 States. Maine, Michigan, Wis- 

 consin, West Virginia, North 

 Carolina, New Jersey and 

 Massachusetts, ranking in 

 the order named, produce the 

 major part of the other third. The acreage of 

 buckwheat in the Dominion of Canada in 1901 was 

 261,726; the bushels, 4,547,159. 



CvMure. 



Climate. — A moist, cool climate is most favor- 

 able for buckwheat, although seeds will germinate 



r 



j'-^\/ 



Fig. 312. 

 Seeds of buckwheat and 

 India-wheat. Left, 

 Fagopyrum eseulen- 

 tum,- liebt, F. Tatar- 

 ieum. Seed of F. Ta- 

 taricumf is smaller 

 and has a wrinkled 

 surface and wavy 



