Nebraska advertiser., 1860-07-26
From the Rural New yorker.
BuCkWheat.

This has been called the lazy farmers
crop, perhaps from the story of the man
who was intending all summer to break
up a summer fallow, to sow with wheat
in the fall. Failing in this, by neglect
ing to plow and prepare the ground at
the proper time, he concluded to wait till
spring aud plant with corn. hut was too
laIe, again, and finally ended by turning
the ground over and scratching in lit
tie buckwheat. Now, while buckweuhat
is particularly adapted to this class of slack
farmers, that there are also some advan-
taoes connected with its culture which
we may commend to some who do not in
clude themselves in this category. In a
favorable season. with decent prepara-
N of the ground, from fifteen to thirty
~ .iC lis per acre. (and sometimes more,
DuSl y raised, at an expense of merely
are arr @ oLle. ,,ion OF The ground, and tri-
ae fb' for seed. As itgrOws very branching,
half m a busbel, we'll covered, IS enough
m to sow. Beside, i can be sown on land H
where other crops have no; grown well,
W. 90 on a snare acre or two winch even
IL
GOOD farmers will, sometin. es, leave WIN
out much of anything growing on; ~
places in the cornfield where the black
grub. or wire-worm, or wet, has destroy
ed the corn, a little buckwheat may OF
ten proftably be sown. to prevent the VI
ter barrenness of the year.
We know there are some objections to
AZ l,o e..
seouent crops. We have heard, from
good authority, that corn or barley will
not do we'll after it; but we cannot say
from experience. Oats will grow after
il. as we know, but they, or whatever
else Won raise, will be liable to have q
GOOD deal of buckwheat mixed with them
and this we consider the great objection
lis culture, as it sometimes remains in the
ground two or three years. This may be
partially prevented by fall plOwlng, after
Ihe cro1 is taken off, but some will still
come up next spring. For these reasons
we would not advise the sowing of our
hest grain land, especially since wheat
has again become possibility. We feel,
indeed, a good deal like a substantial
farmer of our acquaintance, who counts
his acres by the hundred, who was lamen-
,ino last wear that he could not have any
land to snare for a buckwheat patch, and
thought he must hire an acre or two OF
one Of his neighbors for that purpose
He evidently had land enough for any
quantity of buckwheat, but did not want
- nso + for that. We must, however be
permitted to rejoice that everybody is not
so careful of their land as he IS, or as
we should be! Beside, there are, on al
most every farm, low, wet places or
patches of ground too poor to raise any
thing else, which will do very well for
buckwheat. And, friends of farm i'm
provements as we are, we must still hope
that the day is not far distant when our
land is so thoroughly improved, that our
farmers can not afford a patch TO raise
buckwheat pancakes. We take that all
back-for we have just remembered that
they can sow good land and raise all the
more! j
The first week in July is the proper
time to sow buckwheat. June sowing
would be best if we could be certain not
to have hot, dry weather, just as 1t was
filling: and late sowing is Objectionable
because of early frosts. Last year, how
ever. if we remember rightly, the fore
mart of July was very dry, so that buck
wheat came up till about the seventeenth
or eighteenth. and even then, would have
done very we'll if frOsts had held of as
Ia,e as usuai in the fall; therefore, with
a GOOD season, the middle of July might
not be too late TO sow.