Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1883-07-06
Buckwheat Culture.

lOI UuChWHcdl, anu, us IL rule, III receives
very Indifferent culture. Besides, from
its peculiar nature, it requires special
management, which is not sufficiently
understood; hence the indifferent sue
cess which commonly attends this crop.
Some farmers grow it largely, and with
return equal TO that of the other grains.
They treat it with as much care az
is bestowed upon their other grains, and
with knowledge of the requirements,
the success being less dependent on the
chances of the season than is usually
supposed. As farm crop it has many
excellent qualities, some of which are
not possessed TO the same extent by any
other grain. 1t has the great advantage
of being a separate crop, coming on
when the press of spring work is over,
so that there is abundant time to put
it in.
Buckwheht requires dry land; whereas
it often gets soil too wet for the spring
crops, and which continues more or less
moist; then, when plowed it is baked
by the sun, which spoils it. 1t also de-
mands a mellow and clean soil, and,
more than any other crop, it will keep
it mellow and clean. Weeds have
their greatest enemy in buck
wheat. After the land is carefully
plowed, use cultivator and. harrow to
loosen and mellow it. If a sec
ond blowing be given, so much the bet
ter, as this turns down the mellow soil
and produces moisture, which is the
more required. as the crop is sown and
must grow and mature in the dry, hot
summer months. After the second
blowing use again the cultivator, and if
manure is needed mix it well with the
surface soil by narrowing. Then sow
the seed, and cover evenly with the
smoothing harrow or some other light,
tine-toothed harrow, as buckwheat does
not require to be covered deep. Do
not sow too thick. The usual quantity
One bushel per acre-is too much.
Half the quantity, or a little less, is de-
cidedly better, as, with the ground well
prepared, strong, well-branched
stalk will be developed, which will adj
nit enough sun, tempered with shade,
to help the lower branches, thus deep
ening and charging the space for the
development of the grain, and increas-
ing the yield. Should the sun prove
too hot for the surface bloom, the lower
branches will generally escape from the
effects of the frost, as well as of the hot
sun, unless either is unusually severe.
Thus the season, in q measure, NAV be
defied.
The strong stalks will also withstand
the heavy rains better, the latter sell
dom getting deep enough to harm the
crop, and never to destroy it. The re-
verse is the case with thick sowing,
which produces close growth of weak,
slender stems, imperfectly developed in
the dense shade, with few branches,
and these confined to the surface and
exposed directly to the sun and frosts.
Under such circumstances the entire
growth is brought rapidly to the ground
by the rains, because it has not strength
enough to resume its upright position,
the result being not unfrequently that
the crop is ruined. -
The time of sowing depends upon the
length of the season, and must be de-
cided by the experience of each loeali-
ty. the aim being to have the period of
full bloom and development of the grain
occur when there is least danger from
the frost. on the one hand and the heat
of the sun on the other-a point reached
in the latitude OF Central New York
(forty-three degrees), by putting in the
seed about the first of July. To secure
this tina better, the growth should be
promptly started and we'll sustained, so
that no time be lost, which is best ac-
complished ny n deep porous soil-not
leachy-and a mellow seed bed; the
seed must be sown immediately after
blowing and preparing the ground, so
as to get the benefit of the fresh moist
ure. This will favor prompt germina-
ton and more equal ripenjng.
With this treatment buckwheat can
be made comparatively safe crop, re-
alIzing an equal profit with the other
crops OF the farm, and in favorable
season surprising them, the yield being
often enormous. Besides, it leaves the
ground in better condition than any
other crop. 1t only needs the cultivator
and harrow in the following spring TO put
the ground in the best condition for SOW
ing. If lacking in fertility, manure may
be applied and spread in the fall ready
10 be mixed with the soil when worked
in the spring. But buckwheat is not
an exhaustive crop, removing less nitro
gen, phosphoric acid and potash from
the soil than any other grain. With it
land may be improved more readily
than with any other farm crop, its dense
shade protecting the soil and favoring
the destruction of weeds. The treat
ment Is. to some extent, that of the fall
low, yet. unlike the fallow, it does not
lose crops 1t is the practice of some
farmers who are successful with buck
wheat to pillow the land early in the
spring or late fall, and again just before
sowing, giving sometimes an interme-
date blowing, if the land needs it, as
very rough land does, the labor always
being more than paid for by the i'm
proved condition Of the land.-F. g.,
IN N, r San.