1 May, 1899.] QUEENSLAND AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. 331 
it destroyed straight away a crop of Setaria growing near by. It is our first 
crop on the newly started experiment farm. The returns are very fair, although 
the seed seems to me somewhat smaller than when grown as a spring or 
autumn crop. Buckwheat is very sensitive to frost, though. It should therefore 
be sown between September and March in all localities liable to frosts. It1s 
usually sown broadcast, taking then about 4 pecks of seed to the acre. When 
possible, it is preferable to sow in drills, 1 to 2 pecks of seed being then 
sufficient. For small patches the Planet Junior hand seed drill, set as for spinach 
seeds, does very well. 
I forgot to mention that in addition to the common buckwheat there are 
other varieties, such as the silver hulled with pink blossoms, and the J apanese of 
more recent introduction. This latter is the earliest, gives the largest seeds, 
and is on the whole the more profitable to grow. 
[Price of Buckwheat.—There appears to be a great diversity in the price 
of buckwheat in Brisbane and in Sydney. The Japanese buckwheat bas been 
sold in Brisbane for the past six years at 1s. per lb. There is, however, a new 
yariety of Japanese which fetches 2s. per lb. here. The price for silyer-auned 
buckwheat is 3d. per lb. in Sydney or 9s. per bushel; but Sydney is a free 
port, whilst in Brisbane there is a duty of 25 per cent.—Hd. Q.4.J.] 
1 
On the subject of buckwheat as food for poultry, the Agricultural Gazette of 
New South Wales so far back as 1892 advocated its use, and said that nothing 
surprised the experienced poultry-keeper more than the almost entire absence 
of buckwheat from the grain fed to poultry in Australia, Practically this 
valuable grain is out of the market, as it can only be purchased from the seeds- 
men in comparatively small quantities at about 10s. per bushel. 
In France—the greatest poultry-keeping nation in the world—buckwheat 
takes the place of wheat and is considerably cheaper. It is a crop which can 
be grown on very light land and is easy to cultivate, although some care is 
needed in harvesting it, as, if it is allowed to stand too long, the seeds will fall 
to the ground in shoals. It is a very prolific seeding plant and hence a very 
small patch will yield sufficient to feed a large number of fowls. Moreover, 
if the seed did happen to fall, there would be no difficulty in turning the flock 
into the patch so that they might pick and scratch to their hearts’ content. 
On the Continent, and in some parts of the United States, buckwheat is 
largely employed for human food, and the thin cakes made of it are said to be 
yery delicious. 
Thirty bushels per acre have been shelled out atthe Hawkesbury Agricul- 
tural College, grown on poor sandy soil. 
Buckwheat is frequently used in gin distillation. 
It is called “ wheat ” from the great resemblance of the flour made from 
it to wheaten flour. Its other designation— buck’’—may be derived from the 
German “ Buch” (Beech), on account of the shape of the seeds being some- 
what similar to the triangular seeds of the beech-tree. ; 
There are three known species cultivated for their seeds—viz., the common 
buckwheat, the T'artarian, and the notch-seeded buckwheat. 
The inducements to grow it are the late season at which it may be sown, 
its cheap cultivation, its full growth on the poorest soils without manure, and. 
its being an alternative crop to all others. The poorest gravelly and sandy 
soils will carry it if drained, but it will not thrive on clay. The crop will 
reach 40 bushels per acre, of 48 1b. to the bushel, under fayourable circum- 
stances, Its value is the same as that of good barley. 
