B U C 



townfTilp !n Cumberland county, and diftria of Maine, ncav 

 Portland, containins 453 inhabitants. 



BUCK-WHEAT, ui Botany. See Polygonum/ix'- 



Buck-wheat, in jjgncuhure, is a fort of gram much 

 cultivated in the field in fomediHrids. It is earneftly recom- 

 mended to farmers bv Mr. Young, in his excellent Caknaav 

 of Huftandvy, as being yet only known by name m nmeteen 

 pariRies out of twentv throughout the kingdom, it pol- 

 feffes as mnny excellencies to good farmers, he luppoies, as 

 any other forts of grain or pulfe thnt are employed m culti- 

 vation ; having the property of r nehorating the land, as 

 well as that of preparing it fo: wheat or any other crop. 

 It is equally valuable with barley, and where known fells at 

 nearly the fame price ; and, befid.s its utility in fattemng 

 fome forts of animals, is the bell of all crops for fowing 

 grafs feeds with, as it affords then: ihe fame flrelter as barley 

 or oats, without depriving them of their necefTary inpport. 

 The time of fowing it has likewife an advantage m attording 

 a full opportunity for getting the foil inte a proper condi- 

 tion. And there is fcarcely one fourth of the Cipence oi 

 a barley crop incurred in the feed. , r r 



It is faid by fome to thrive well on any foil, even thofe ot 

 the pooreft kinds s and that in moR of the ar;;ble diftnds it 

 is fown on the inferior forts of land, as when cultivated on 

 the richer kinds, it is found to run too much to 'I'-aw- 



Mr. Bannifter, however, obferves, in his Synoplis ot Hul- 

 bandry, that it delights in land which has been reduced into 

 good order bv tillage, and has hkewife partaken liberally ot 

 fhe dung-cart, for which rcafon it often fucceeds a crop oi 

 turnips ; and there is this advantage attending the cultivation 

 of It, that as, from the tender nature of the plant, it re- 

 quires to be fown late, it may follow a crop of turnips that 

 has been fed off at a time when it would be highly impru- 

 dent to fow the ground with barley. 



Mr. Young confiders this as a vei7 profitable crop on all 

 forts of land; except the very heavy kinds, that require late 

 fowing, and where barlev cannot be put in at a fufficiently 

 early period ; as he fufpefts there are not many foils on 

 which a buck-wheat crop fown in May will not be "^ore va- 

 luable than one of barley fown at the lame time, though it 

 is the common praftice in many dillrifts to put that crop in 

 at fo late a feafon. 



The lands intended for this grain fhould undergo a proper 

 tillage in April, fo as to render them fine and perfeftly clean 

 from weeds; efpecially where grafs-feeds are to be fown 



'"The'proper time for fowing buck-wheat, Mr. Banniller 

 obferves, is in May, « when there is no longer any danger 

 to be apprehended from the frofts ; for fo tender is this ve- 

 getable at its firil appearance, as to be unable at an earlier 

 period to withftand the vernal cold ; and tlie fl.ghteft froll, 

 ill their infant ftnte, would infallibly cut off the young (lioots; 

 and, as from this ci.cumftance it mud be fown at a fea on 

 when drv weather may be expefted, the crop does on that 

 account 'not unfrequently mi'.carry." And Mr. Young af- 

 ferts that it often fucceeds well, when put into the ground 

 in June, and even the beginning of July, which is conl.dered 

 as an advantage in a crop that prepares the land tor 



'"'^But the author of the Synopfis of Hufbandry reniarks 

 that " being fown late, the harvell hkewife tails out veiy 

 backward, by which the greacer part of the crop is often 

 devou-ed by the hoirs in the IkW ; as this grain f^l^|""^ n- 

 pens nil towards M.chaehna., when the other corn itubbles 

 have been lon^ ooen. Add to this, the injury hkely to acm^e 

 from rain, which may be expeaed to fall m great abundancs 



BUG 



at this feafon, fo that the haulm, being extremely fuc«>l«it, 

 does in the moft kindly harveft require a great deal of held 

 room : but in a wet autumn it is a very difficult matter to 

 get the crop home in good order; and in fucli ycnis he has 

 known the fwarths of buck-wheat lying abroad tliroughout 

 the gicatcll part of November." Hence there is evidently 

 great hazard in this grain, not only from its being expofcdls 

 the ravages of the hogs, when cultivated in open tields, as 

 before mentioned, but from the {liedding ol the feed ; cir- 

 cumllances which will caufe the returns to be very trifling 

 when threfhcd. To this may be added the inferior value of 

 the ftraw, chaff, &c. when compared with an oat or barley 

 crop." 



The proportion of feed which is necclTary, muft vary m 

 fome meafure according to the nature of the land ; but, in 

 general, a bnfliel to the acre is fully fufilccnt. It fliould be 

 well harrowed in with a light lliort-tined harrow. 



This grain generally, as has been fcen, bears a price equal 

 to that of barley, and is ufed for fattening of fwiiic, poulLp'; 

 and other domellic animals. " In its external form," Mr. 

 Banniiler fays, " it bears not the fmalleft refembhnce t« 

 wheat ; and 'the method of culture, and the progrefs of its 

 growth, are totally different from that grain : but, when 

 ground, it produces a white flour, whence it may probably 

 have gained the appellation. In Hertfordflure and Buck- 

 inghamfliire, it is a common mode of huibandry to fow tur- 

 nip feed with buck-wheat; but the Kentilh farmers ufually 

 fow their wocld or weld on their buck-wheat lands ; and as 

 the feeds of either covet a light bed, and both of them re- 

 quire to be fown late, the woold generally fucceeds well 

 when raifcd among buck-wheat ; and fometimes buck-wheat, 

 turnips, and woold are crowded togetiier on one feafon.' 

 This is, however, a pradice by no means to be generally 

 adopted. , . 



The proper quantity of tliis gram, according to this 

 writer, " to fow on an acre, is half a bulhel ; and inch is ths 

 uncertaiht) of the return, that five quarters have been pro- 

 duced from an acre in fome years, while m others not lo 

 much as five bufhels." .... 



" The green haulm of buck-wheat has a pecuhar inebriating 

 effeft on fvvine. He has feen hogs, which have fed heartily 

 on it, come home in fuch a flate of intcJxication, as to be 

 unable to walk without reeling." 



This fort of grain is likewife, he fays, fometimes " iown 

 on ftiff land?, for the purpofe of ploughing in the llalks as a 

 manure. On fallows, where the land has a clayey bottom, 

 this method may be purfucd to advantage ; but it is to be 

 noted, that the ground fliould be in pretty good heart, fo as 

 to throw out a large burthen of haulm, otherwife no benefit 

 can accrue from this mode of hulbardry." At the ftirring 

 of the fallow in May, in this mode of culture, the ieed 

 fliould be fown pretty thick ; and when the llaUs have ar- 

 rived to their full growth, they fliould be laid flat with the 

 roller, and afterwards turned in with the plough ; and when 

 the around has continued in this Hate till towards Mithael- 

 mas, by which time the ftalks of the buck-wheat will be 

 rotted, the feed furrows for the fucceedmg crop ftiou d be be- 

 eun. " This method of ploughing-in the green ilalks ot 

 buck-wheat contributes, it is obferved, much toward the 

 melioration of iV.ff foils, and difpofes them to work more 

 kindly than they would otherwife have done, by overcoming 

 that adhefion, which is the greatell evil that attend? this 



faecies ot land." „,,,,, ,-r 



The author of the " New Farmer's Calendar," who aJures 

 us that he fpeaks from much aftual experience, fays, that 

 " the invariable relult has fliewn its inferiority to every other 

 yraui, but fuperionty over other vegetable food, namely 

 b'"- ' ^ J ]s; 2 carrots. 



