26 BULLETIN 853, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
have been using the formaldehyde treatment for it. By the use of 
this simple and inexpensive treatment the losses from oat smut can 
be reduced to a minimum. 1 
The yield of buckwheat was 15 bushels per acre, as compared with 
yields of 16 bushels per acre for the census reports of 1900 and 191 0. 2 
About one-third as much land is devoted to buckwheat as to wheat. 
Buckwheat is a good crop to put on rough or weedy land. A good 
deal of buckwheat is sold, some is used in the house, and a large 
quantity is fed to the chickens. It makes an excellent chicken feed. 
The average yield of hay for the year 1916 was 1.7 tons per acre. 
The yield of this crop in the three counties in which the survey was 
made, for the United States Census of 1900 and 1910, respectively, 
was 1.1 and 1.2 tons. The hay crop in this area was large in 1916, but 
farmers generally said that the feeding value was somewhat lower 
than usual. Hay is the leading staple crop of the region, and con- 
sists principally of clover and timothy. Much of the red clover seed 
used is grown on the farm. This is the medium red variety. The 
alsike clover seed used is purchased. A considerable part of the 
timothy seed required for farm use is obtained by stripping the 
heads from selected portions of the hay field. With care, seed of an 
excellent quality can be obtained by this method. Some of the 
farmers leave patches of timothy hay standing for seed. A few use 
the barn-floor sweepings for their source of supply of timothy seed. 
The yield of potatoes was somewhat below normal, 68 bushels per 
acre, as compared with yields of 102 and 93 bushels given in the last 
two census reports. The higher prices obtained, however, would 
about make up for the loss due to low yield. Potatoes, however, 
are a relatively unimportant crop in this area, occupying but 1.5 per 
cent of the total crop area, or about seven-tenths of an acre per farm. 
Little attention has been paid to orcharding in this area. Few of 
the farmers spray their trees, and many do but little pruning. In 
one part of the area surveyed one farmer who runs a special fruit 
farm does considerable spraying for his neighbors, using a small 
power sprayer. This farmer sold $175 worth of apples, $300 worth 
of cherries, $100 worth of peaches, $100 worth of plums, and $124 
worth of strawberries. A small quantity of pears and prunes were 
produced and sold in this area. 
In general, market conditions are such that it would be inadvisable 
to increase to any great extent the acreage devoted to truck crops 
in this area, yet on many farms, especially on those where there 
is a large family at home, the addition of some special crop like 
strawberries, raspberries, or blackberries would materially increase 
1 For information in controlling cereal smuts see Farmer's Bulletin 939, "Cereal Smuts and the Dis- 
infection of Seed Grain," which may be obtained free from the U. S. Department of Agriculture. 
1 For further details concerning the growing of buckwheat, see Farmers' Bulletin 1062, "Buckwheat." 
