The Sun.
London, England, 1847-02-22 00:00:00

CULTURE OF BUCKWHEAT

This grain havirig of late, as a make-shift, been much
sought after, we, at the desire of several inquirers, beg
to repeat the substance of some instructions regarding
its culture, long since given by us in reply to a corres-
pondent. It has been used in England for feeding
poultry and pigs, and has been extensively grown in
woods, and places contiguous to them, for the support of
partridge and other game birds. It has been long grown
on the continent as bread stuff, nor did it escape being
employed in parts of the county Wexford, over 200
years ago, for the same purpose, mixed and ground
with equal quantities of wheat. We have grown it
ourselves, on poor land to plough in as a manure, to
be used green for feeding pigs and cattle, to be used
by game, and to be given dry in grain to pigs, or
crushed and mashed for ranch cows. It is useful for
all these purposes; but its value is greatest when grown
on land too poor to give any other grain crop, or green
crop, without the aid of manure, or at a time too late in
the year to grow any other grain crop. The best time
to sow it is in May, when there is no danger of its being
injured by frosts, the slightest of which would severely
affect it. Three bushels of seed, per Irish acre, if to be
used for soiling, will suffice to well-prepared land. If
designed to produce ripe grain, a less quantity of seed
will suffice. After the land is well ploughed, the seed
can be harrowed in, the land rolled, and the stones
completely picked off. It will, in good seasons, pro-
duce ripe seed the latter end of July ; but, although
it will have the best of the seed ripe, then the tops
of the stems will be seen green and in blossom ;
hence the necessity of using much caution in liar •
vesting it. It should be mowed off closely, allowed
to lie on the swath a couple of days till well soaked, or
dry, and then tied into small sheaves, and carefully
stooked till perfectly dry, when it can ba made into
small stacks well ventilated and carefully thatched till
wanted for use. The flour, when ground, is very white
and sweet when made into bread. There is a prevalent
notion that, when used alone, either as soiling for pigs
or cattle, or given as food to man or beast, that it is apt
to produce what is termed vertigo, or a dizziness in the
head. This we cannot say of our own knowledge,
although we have used it in every way and for every
purpose that we have ever heard it applied to. It is
believed by some that because it will grow upon poor
land better than most other grain crops will,
that it will not exhaust land very much for
subsequent corn culture. This, we believe, is a mis-
take. We have tried it in various ways, Oe of which
we will now record. We sowed it in a piece of poor
land beside rape, neither manured, and beside a naked
fallow sowed oats and clover the following year on the
entire field, and by far the worst crop had been on the
land previously occupied by the buckwheat, notwith-
standing that, from its thick and heavy foliage, it de-
stroyed all the annual weeds similar to which the other
parts of the field were very pregnant. As it is easy of
cultivation, it admits of being sown late, and ripens
early, it is well worth a trial at this time; but, as we
have alrea-ly said, it will be but a make-shift, either for
human food, the food of farm stock, or even as a fallow
crop in poor land, that could be more profitably em-
ployed growing turnips if the means were at hand.—
Irish Farmers' Gazette.