BUCKWHEAT 



BUCKWHEAT 



219 



■t 



in a very dry soil, and considerable heat during 

 the early stages of growth is an advantage. High 

 temperatures during the period of seed formation, 

 especially hot sunshine following showers, is usu- 

 ^ ally disastrous to the yield, caus- 



ing blasting of the flowers. The 

 same effect is attributed to 

 strong east winds. The yield is 

 much reduced by drought dur- 

 ing this period. Buckwheat will 

 mature in a shorter period than 

 any other grain crop, eight or 

 ten weeks being sufllcient under 

 favorable conditions. It is thus 

 well adapted to high altitudes 

 and short seasons, but its period 

 of growth must be free from 

 frosts, as the plants are very 

 sensitive to them. 



Soils. — Buckwheat 

 will grow on a wide 

 range of soils, but those 

 of a rather light, well- 

 drained character are 

 best suited. It will give 

 fair yields on soils too 

 poor or too badly tilled 

 to produce most other 

 crops, and seems to be 

 less affected by soil than 

 by season. It is not 

 desirable, however, to 

 attempt to grow buck- 

 wheat on very rich 

 land, as under such con- 

 ditions the crop fre- 

 quently lodges badly 

 with results even more 

 serious than occur when 

 other grain crops go 

 down, as the plant has 

 no method of rising 

 again. This ability to 

 produce fair crops on 

 poor soils and under in- 

 different cultivation has 

 led to buckwheat being 

 often considered the 

 poor farmer's crop and 

 to poor and unskilled 

 farmers being dubbed 

 " buckwheaters." The 

 crop lends itself well to 

 the farmer who lacks 

 capital to secure timely 

 labor or to wait for returns on investments in till- 

 age and fertilizer. It may be planted after the rush 

 of spring work is over; it may be resorted to as a 

 substitute for spring crops or meadows that have 

 failed, and it brings quick return for investment 

 in fertilizer. Buckwheat responds to more gener- 

 ous and intelligent treatment and deserves to be 

 held in higher esteem than it usually enjoys. 



Fertilizing. — Stable manure is not usually 

 applied to land intended for buckwheat, but is 



I 



rr 



Fig. 313. 



India-wlieat 



or duckwheat 



{Fagopyruni 



Tatarieum). 



I- 



/ 



reserved for more exacting crops. Moderate ap- 

 plications of manure, however, on poor soils result 

 in largely increased yields. When grown on poor 

 land, buckwheat responds well to moderate dress- 

 ings of even low-grade fertilizers, and, many 

 farmers who do not use fertilizers on other crops 

 find it profitable to buy for this. In experiments 

 conducted at the Cornell Experiment Station on 

 rather heavy soil, but in a state of fertility to 

 produce a fair crop without fertilizing, applica- 

 tions of acid rock, dried blood and muriate of 

 potash produced uncertain and somewhat contra- 

 dictory results. 



Seed-bed. — Since buckwheat is not usually 

 planted till the last of June, owing to pressure of 

 other work or to shiftlessness, the land too often 

 is not plowed till just before seeding and then 

 receives hasty and indifferent fitting. This allows 

 little time for sods and other organic matter to 

 decay and become incorporated with the soil, and 

 capillarity is not reestablished between the sub- 

 soil and the seed-bed. Under these conditions the 

 development of the crop is slow, and if drought 

 ensues disaster is the result. Early plowing of the 

 land, so as to allow of several harrowings at inter- 

 vals of two weeks and a thorough settling of the 

 soil, nearly insures the maximum crop the land is 

 capable of producing. If early plowing is im- 

 practicable, then greater attention should be given 

 to thorough fitting of the seed-bed. 



Seed and seeding. — The amount of seed used per 

 acre varies from three to five pecks, but is usually 

 four pecks. It may be sown with the ordinary 

 grain drill or broadcasted and harrowed in. 



The time of seeding varies in different localities; 

 in New York and Pennsylvania it is the last week 

 in June or the first week in July. To avoid hot 

 weather while the grain is forming, it is desirable 

 to sow as late as possible and have the crop well 

 developed before severe frosts occur. Buckwheat 

 begins to bloom before the plants have nearly 

 reached full growth and continues to bloom till 

 stopped by frost or the harvest. Hence there will 

 be at harvest time on the same plants mature and 

 immature grain and flowers. It is sought to cut 

 the crop just before the first hard frost. Much 

 of the immature grain will ripen while lying in the 

 swath or gavel. 



Harvesting. — Buckwheat is rarely harvested 

 with the self-binder, but may be cut with the hand 

 cradle or the dropper-reaper. To avoid the shelling 

 and loss of the more mature grains, it is preferably 

 cut early in the morning, while damp from dew or 

 during damp, cloudy weather. It is usually allowed 

 to lie a few days in swath or gavel, when it is set 

 up in small independent shocks or stooks. It is not 

 bound tightly by bands like most cereal grains, but 

 the tops of the shocks are held together by a few 

 stems being twisted around in a way peculiar to 

 the crop. This setting up is also usually done when 

 the crop is damp, to avoid shelling of the grain. 

 The unthreshed crop is not often stored in barns 

 or stacked but is threshed direct from the field. 

 Formerly much of the threshing was done with 

 the hand flail, in which case it was necessary that 



