The Portland daily press., 1868-03-27

The culture of buckwheat in our State Is
not much practiced, and yet our farmers can
make it profitable crop. Buckwheat cakes
are esteemed luxury by many, especially in
the winter months, but nearly all the flour
from which they are made is imported from
other States and every one that eats them
pays tribute to New York, or some other
State, but farmers can put stop to this
drain, if they are so disposed. But will they
do it? When we reflect upon the past that
they will not even attempt to raise wheat to
feed their families, but pay out every year
large sums for that purpose, we have
but little hope that anything that we can say
upon the culture OF buckwheat will have
much effect upon them still we will make a
| few sus gestions on the subject.
Buckwheat is very easily grown, and good
crop is obtained with less labor and expense
than crop of oats, and it is not so exhaust
| ing to the soil as oats. A writer of Pennsyl-
vania in the Country Gentleman says that its
mode of culture is most primitive and that
many fields which would produce nothing
else, not even weeds, produce thirty bushels
to the acre. The best farmers of that State
cultivate their ground well, making buck
wheat their fallow crop or use it in bringing
rough ground into mellow state and fit for
the following crop OF corn. 1t Is never plow-
| ed under, but depended on mainly as the
money producing crop. And whyl Because
the grim is largely in demand for flour and
easy of sale at every country mill. So it
would sell at all our country mills if our
farmers would raise it.
A dry grayelly soil is the best and there is
more or less OF soil such on every mans farm.
Hundreds and thousands of acres of land in
every county Of our State which now run to
waste might be made to produce a profitable
| crop of buckwheat. With little lining poor
| soil will raise the grain, and if the cultvator
| don't like buckwheat cakes, he can plow the
| crop under and thereby enrich his land. Next
to clover, perhaps, buckwheat is the best
crop to turn under. 1t grows quick and
makes good manure when plowed under
Our farmers would find it a very profitable
crop as fertilizer. BY sowing this grain and
plowing it under, poor lands may be enriched
and well prepared for any crop.
| But we did not intend, when we COM
menced this article, to speak of cultivating
this grain to plow under, but to raise it for
It's flour. 1t furnishes too, most excellent
food for fowls, and Is far superior to corn, or
any other grain as an "egg producer. The
labor of preparing the ground comes at sea-
son when the hurry of"springs work" is over,
and the expense of seed is trifling, half
bushel per acre being sufficient The lime
used on the ground is valuable for the sue
ceeding crop, and last, but not least, the soil
is left clean and mellow. The writer above
alluded to says one of his neighbors sowed
last year-a most unfavorable seasons "a
bushels, and raised over l6O bushels on field
that had been cropped for many years with
out manure. If the season had been favora-
BILE double this crop would have been harvest
ed. He thinks their dry gravelly soil and
subsoil give to their buckwheat its thin skin
and heavy mealy kernel He has known
twenty four bushels to yield over 800 pounds
of flour. This particular grain was grown on
very stony hillside
We have no doubt but our farmers can
raise as good buckwheat as the Pennsylvania
farmers. Our seasons are long enough, for
this grain need not be sown till the last of
June or the first of July, even in our climate.
Now we hope our farmers will think of this
matter and select some suitable soil and raise
a good lot of buckwheat the coming season,
so that we shall not next winter be obliged 10
pay tribute to Pennsylvania farmers for our
buckwheat cakes.
| AGRIC0TA