1861 ,] 
303 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
Rochester, N. Y., several years ago, is still cul¬ 
tivated, and generally with good results when 
grown upon the southern slopes of mountains. 
•--- — a—-- 
For the American Agriculturist , 
Buckwheat. 
Buckwheat for Food—For Manure—Two Crops in 
one Season—A Crop of Hay and one of Buck¬ 
wheat on the same ground every year. 
This plant, ( Polygonumfagopyrum of botanists,) 
though nowhere relied upon as a leading crop, 
is extensively cultivated in this country. Its pe¬ 
riod of ripening, about seventy-five days, is so 
much shorter than that of the cereals, that it is 
often available where these fail If the corn 
rots, or is destroyed by birds, buckwheat can be 
sown when it is too late to replant the corn. 
It is also frequently sown after the winter rye 
and wheat come off, when, from any emergen¬ 
cy, the farmer wishes to take two crops from his 
land in a season. It is particularly well adapt¬ 
ed to a year like the present, when we -want to 
produce all the breadstuff’s possible with our 
manure and labor. Though not a cereal, botan- 
ically, it is an excellent substitute for grain, and 
is quite easily raised. It is perhaps a failing of 
the plant, that it has such a reputation. For it 
is usually turned off upon the poorest land, 
grown without manure; and results, not infre¬ 
quently, in making both the land and the owner 
poorer. 
The time of sowing is from the middle of 
June to the middle of July, according to the 
climate and the circumstances of the farmer. 
If sown too early, it is found that it does not 
head as welL If too late, it is liable to be cut 
off by the frost before the grain is fully matured. 
Where killing frosts usually make their appear¬ 
ance the last of September, the seed should be 
sown from the first to the tenth of July. In 
milder climates, it may be deferred a few days. 
The yield will depend quite as much upon the 
condition of the soil, as upon the climate. 
Some sow habitually upon light sandy land, 
without manure, and are content with eight to 
ten bushels; while others take a better class of 
lands, and get from thirty to fifty bushels to 
the acre. 
The crop delights in warm sandy loams, easi¬ 
ly wrought, but will grow readily where any of 
the cereals will. It shows the effects of manure 
as readily as any plant. Peruvian guano seems 
to be a specific for it. We have seen astonish¬ 
ing results upon very poor, worn out land, with 
a dressing of this fertilizer. And if one has to 
purchase manure for this crop, there is probably 
nothing that will give so good immediate re¬ 
turns. A bag of 150 pounds per acre is a com¬ 
mon dressing; but if the land has been very 
hard used, twice that quantity will be better 
economy. 
In some of our farming districts, it is quite 
common to use buckwheat for turning in as a 
green crop. We have seen very fine crops of rye 
raised annually , for a succession of years, by simp¬ 
ly plowing in the stubble as soon as the rye was 
off, and sowing buckwheat to be plowed in for 
manure when in full blossom. The gentleman 
who pursued this method, claimed that there 
was increased productiveness every year. Buck¬ 
wheat does not return so large a mass of vege¬ 
table matter to the soil, as clover, but it grows 
much more rapidly, and can be used where clo¬ 
ver can not. If necessary, two crops of it can 
be turned under, in a season. 
Buckwheat is also an excellent cleansing crop. 
Many farms have received such slovenly tillage, 
that they are heavily stocked with weeds, char¬ 
lock, thistles, daisies, and many other trouble¬ 
some plants. The expense of cultivation is in 
many cases doubled by these weeds, and it be¬ 
comes a matter of great importance to get rid 
of them. The late plowing for buckwheat in 
mid-summer, turns under a crop of weeds be¬ 
fore they have time to mature their seeds, and 
thus one generation is disposed of. A few crops 
of buckwheat in succession will clean the land. 
But the main thought of the present year will 
be to increase the store of food for man and 
beast. Buckwheat is largely used for both pur¬ 
poses, in the Eastern and Middle States. Some 
farmers, who do not have it upon their tables, 
use it ground up with oats and corn, as proven¬ 
der for their horses and swine. In popular es¬ 
teem, it stands between oats and corn, in its 
value for making muscle and fat. 
In sowing buckwheat, it is a common error to 
seed too heavily. This plant must have room 
in order to make good heavy grain. Sow from 
one-lialf bushel to a bushel to the acre, accord¬ 
ing to the quality ®f the land. The richer the 
land, the less seed. Connecticut. 
For the American Agriculturist. 
Does it Pay to Exchange Seed ? 
Mr. Editor. —Almost everybody, and every¬ 
body’s echo, that is, the newspapers, advise 
farmers to change their seed often—to get that 
which has been raised at a distance, even if it 
be of the same variety, and grown on no better 
land. If we can always be sure of getting seed 
which has been raised under more favorable cir¬ 
cumstances, and brought to better maturity, I can 
understand how a change will be beneficial; but I 
don’t exactly see how a mere difference of local¬ 
ity will improve seed. It may be that corn or 
wheat which has grown in a northern climate 
will have a tendency to ripen earlier than the 
same variety produced in a southern region, and 
there may be an advantage in sending North for 
wheat on this account; but some contend that 
it will do great good to get new seed even in 
the same latitude, only so that it be not grown 
in the same neighborhood. 
One man says that sowing seed from the same 
farm every year, is like breeding in-and-in, and 
the race must run out. But that can’t be true, 
for seed don’t breed like cattle. When wheat 
is taken from Massachusetts to Ohio, it is not 
crossed upon Ohio wheat, but it gives its own 
increase. Suppose two farmers, one in New- 
York, the other in Illinois, should exchange 
seed wheat, would both gain in the excellence 
of the product ? According to my ideas, other 
things being equal, he would get the best of the 
bargain, who received the best seed. 
I knew of a man who raised his own seed 
wheat for more than twenty years, and his crops 
improved during the whole time. Occasionally 
he sowed a field with wheat brought from a 
distance, by way of experiment, but it never 
proved so good as that raised from his own 
stock. The secret of his success was the pains 
he took every year to select the best part of his 
field for seed. This was always done before 
harvest; the plot was staked off and left to ripen 
fully, then it was threshed with a flail as soon 
as drawn in, and carefully stored by itself. If 
some careless man, who had taken his seed hap¬ 
hazard from what happened to be left in the bin 
at sowing time, should exchange with one who 
had taken such pains to select seed year after 
year, no doubt he would insist that change was 
of great benefit to him, and it would be: but it 
would be better for him, and for every other 
farmer to improve his own seed, rather than run 
the risk of finding somebody to do it for him. 
Jonathan. 
Sorghum Notes, 
O. N. Brainard, of Linn Co., Iowa, who has 
had much experience in the culture of sorghum, 
and manufacturing it into both syrup and sugar, 
sends a lengthy and interesting account to the 
Prairie Farmer, from which we make extracts. 
Mr. B. would save seed from a patch grown 
for the special purpose, distant from corn or any 
other plant of the same nature, with which sor¬ 
ghum can possibly mix. Select the ripest heads, 
tie in small bundles, and hang them up during 
the Winter. Clean out the richest seed and tie 
in bags one week before planting. Put these 
bags in warm water, over night, and bury in 
earth the next day, until sprouted. Plant on 
rich, sandy ground, plowing deep and harrow¬ 
ing well. Put in rows 3i feet apart and quite 
thickly in the drill, cover the seed with a har¬ 
row, and roll at night what has been planted 
during the day. 
As soon as the young shoots can be seen, 
knock out the front tooth of a horse harrow, 
and go over the piece, the team walking astride 
the rows. When the cane is 6 inches high, cut 
out the surplus shoots with a hoe, leaving 3 or 4 
to the foot. After this, working twice with 
the cultivator or plow will be sufficient. 
In cutting up, strike so as to leave a pointed 
butt for the crusher to take hold of. The crop 
sliqukl be cut the latter part of September, be¬ 
fore heavy frosts. If well shocked, with the 
leaves on, it keeps sweet until Winter. In trim¬ 
ming for the crusher, cut off the two top joints, 
and throw away; the juice from that portion is 
bitter. For sugar, cut the canes in the middle, 
and use only the lower half. The other will 
answer for syrup. 
A good crusher and boiler are absolutely indis¬ 
pensable. Mr. B. used a substantial, upright 3 
roller iron mill, manufactured at a cost of $85. 
The large roller was 18 inches in diameter, and 
1 foot long. The two smaller ones, 9 inches in 
diameter, with cog wheels upon the upper ends. 
With two horses he extracted 120 gallons juice 
per hour. Cook’s Patent rocker evaporator, 6 
feet wide and 18 feet long, was used to reduce 
the syrup. When the mill is started in the 
morning, fire is lighted under the evaporator, 
which is set on a level. After boiling, say 20 to 
30 minutes, it is lowered, and a steady stream 
of syrup runs from the lower end. No juice is 
left over night, and every thing is kept clean. 
The cane is fed, butts first. Keep the evapora¬ 
tor at such an inclination that the syrup shall 
take about 30 minutes to make the passage. 
The juice is poured in the upper end through a 
tub filled with straw, to strain out bits of cane, 
and the scum is removed during the boiling. 
For sugar, boil until the syrup will draw out 
like hair between the thumb and finger, and set 
it away in a warm place to grain. When grain¬ 
ed, put it into a vessel with small holes in the 
bottom, to drain off the molasses. 
Mr. B. kept a memorandum of the different 
soils on which cane was grown, amount per 
acre, value of crop, etc., from which we con¬ 
dense the following; 
“ Began to crash, Sept. 6. Set the evaporator 
level, let on the juice, started a brisk fire, and in 
22 minutes lowered the evaporator and pulled 
the plug. The syrup commenced to run : ff 
