1854 . 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
113 
-Culture -of Buckwheat. 
- Editors Country Gentleman —In my last I said 
something by way of calling your attention to the cul¬ 
tivation of buckwheat, which.is getting to be, next to 
wheat, the most important crop in the state of New- 
York. I have deferred writing in the hope of obtain¬ 
ing some more digested information in relation to its 
culture, number of bushels per acre, amount raised in 
this town, &e. Not having in my possession any means 
of ascertaining these important facts, I must content 
myself with giving such general statements as come 
within my range of observation. 
And first, by the Patent Office Report for 1851-2, 
you will see that the number of bushels grown in this 
state is 3,183,955, which is nearly as much as all the 
rest of -the United States put together. Of this pro¬ 
duction, Albany county takes the lead, and Renssp- 
laerville is the banner town. The average price per 
bushel is fifty cents for the last twenty years. The de¬ 
mand in general appears to be a little above the sup¬ 
ply. The standard weight per bushel I understand 
has been established within a year or two at fifty 
pounds. You will perceive by this weight, that it is a 
more profitable grain to feed than oats, which weigh 
about 36 lbs. to the bushel. Many farmers adopt the 
practice of feeding the buckwheat and selling their 
oats in market. 
The product per acre 'varies according to the quality 
of the soil,..mode of culture, adaptedness of season, Ac. 
It was formerly considered, compared with others, a 
somewhat uncertain crop, but the experience of some 
years past has satisfied me that it is not more uncer¬ 
tain than most other summer crops. 
The time of sowing varies from about the 20th June 
to the 4th July. Some have sowed as early as the 
10th June, and others as late as the 15th July. Il 
sowed too early, it is liable to blast, and if sown too 
late, is liable to frost. The general principle appears 
to be to seed at about such a time as to bring the grain 
to such a state of maturity as not to be affected by 
the dry and parching winds that usually prevail be¬ 
fore the autumnal equinox. 
The mode of culture has varied considerable since 
my recollection. It was formerly the custom to re¬ 
serve the poorest land for buckwheat. It was consid¬ 
ered a great reproach to land to say it would produce 
“only buckwheat.” The practice was to break up 
sward land early in the spring, and let it lie until 
about seeding time, and then cross-plow and seed. 
The practice now, among good farmers generally, is to 
sheep the fields intended for the erop as long as can 
be done before sowing, and plow but once. 
I will here state, that I know of no section of coun¬ 
try in which the business of farming is conducted more 
slovenly than it is among us. There are many ex¬ 
ceptions to this general statement, but not enough to 
invalidate it as a general rule. The practice is alto¬ 
gether too generaL The result must eventually prove 
ruinous. A young man will purchase a farm, and run 
in debt for a good share of the purchase money; grain 
hears a good price, and he is anxious to he out of debt. 
The temptation to run the land is exceedingly strong. 
Hence many keep no more stock than will eat up the 
coarse fodder in the course of the winter, and then 
plow and sow almost the entire farm to oats and buck¬ 
wheat—oats one year and buckwheat the next. I 
know land that has been subjected to this system of 
skinning for the last fifteen years, and compared with 
others the yield may be said to he good. What this 
land would produce, if occasionally seeded with clover 
and a suitable rotation practiced, I am unable to say. 
Some of our farmers have raised good corn, good 
wheat, good rye, &c. I believe that to a farmer of 
this town, (a neighbor of mine,) has recently been 
awarded the first premium on wheat and corn, and the 
second on rye, by the New-York State Ag. Society. I 
am exceedingly gratified to be able to state that a 
more careful and enlightened system of husbandry has 
begun to prevail in this as well as in the adjoining 
towns. 
It is a money crop; as soon as threshed it will bring 
the fifty cents, mostly at the barn. The time is very 
short; 72 days from sowing to.threshing, may be con¬ 
sidered as the shortest time. There is but very little 
difference, however, between early and late sowed, as 
to the time of ripening. 
As to manure. No erop will feel manure of any 
kind, or in any state, so quick as buckwheat. Barn¬ 
yard manure, whether green or rotted, ashes, lime, 
plaster, ail seem to produce a wonderful effect when 
applied to this crop. Guano, so far as my knowledge 
extends, has not been tried, hut I have no doubt that 
the effect would he a considerable per cent above that 
of any other manure, barn-yard manure not excepted. 
The general impression formerly was that it was an 
exhausting crop. I have of late years been in the 
habit of observing pretty closely as to this opinion, 
and have recently conversed with some of our most in¬ 
telligent and enterprising farmers in relation to this 
subject. The general opinion is that, compared with 
other crops, it is not exhausting. One gentleman in 
particular remarked to me recently, that it was his de¬ 
cided opinion that no erop we could grow, left the land 
in so good tilth as buckwheat. He remarked further 
as a reason, that the land was tilled at that season of 
the year when every green thing that was uprooted by 
the plow, was destroyed—that the growth of the grain 
was so rapid as wholly to smother and prevent the 
growth of grass or weeds of any description. I will 
remark here that in relation to my own experience, a 
good growth of buckwheat, followed by oats, and seed¬ 
ing heavily with clover, almost entirely eradicates the 
Canada thistle. 
The remarks of your late correspondent in relation 
to raising corn after buckwheat, I am satisfied are en¬ 
tirely correct. I have never tried the experiment my¬ 
self, and have never seen it tried in hut two or three 
instances; and the results have uniformly been main¬ 
ly as your correspondent describes as the result of his 
experiments. Some person or persons, years ago, must 
have tried these same experiments as your correspon- 
