The Columbus journal., 1883-08-22
A Neglected Crop.

Considering the ease with which 70
ean be raised and the active demand
that always exists for it, buckwheat is
neglected to q greater extent than any
grain produced in this country. In
1881 the entire amount of buckwheat
produced in all the States and Terri
tories was only 9, ,486. 200 bushels. The
largest crop ever produced was in 1880,
when it amounted to IA, ,6l7, ,535 bushels.
This crop was produced on S22, ,SO2
acres of land, and was worth SO, ,6S2,-
4SS. About four-iifths of this crop was
produced in the States of New York and
Pennsylvania. Scarcely any was raised
In any of the more Southern States, and
very little south of Ohio. The greatest
yield reported was in Maine, where it
averaged twenty-five bushels per acre.
1t readily sold at 81 per bushel to local
millers. Considerable was imported
from Canada. where the value of the
crop is better appreciated than it is in
this country. But small proportion
Of the article sold in city markets as
buckwheat flour is pure. or true to
name. 1t is generally mixture of the
meal of white corn and various kinds Of
inferior flour. Millers and dealers
often state that it is impossible to pro-
cure grain enough to supply the demand
for buckwheat flour. In all Northern
towns buckwheat cakes are held in high
esteem as breakfast dish. The use of
buckwheat in the country is limited.
as farmers generally do not raise it and
the four is not kept for sale by local
grocers. Farmers and country millers
would do well to take advantage of the
demand for genuine buckwheat flour.
1t will sell readily in town and country
at the price the best quality of white
winter wheat flour commands, if it is
put up in bags weighing from twenty
i've to fifty pounds. BY judicious man.
agement the sales of buckwheat flour
could be greatly increased in all parts
of the country.
Buckwheat is an excellent food for
fowls of all kinds. 1t is also a very
good food for hogs and sheep. Bee
Keepers can not afford to be without q
field of buckwheat. The blossoms fur
nish large amount OF honey at time
when little can be obtained from other
sources. Soil is not impoverished by
raising buckwheat upon it as it is by
raising most kinds of grain. The plants
produce a very dense shade during the
hottest part of the season, which greatly
benefits the soil. The crop can be
sOwn and harvested at time when
other annual crops require little or no
attention. Not unfrequently good
yield is obtained from an inverted sod
on which crop of grass has been
grown and cut the same season. 1t is
often practical to raise good crtp OF
buckwheat on land that was too wet to
plow and SOW early in the season. 1t
may often be raised to advantage where
corn or small grain was drowned out.
1t is the general custom to sow buck
wheat on poor land that is very poorly
prepared. If farmer has some land
that is too poor or too wet to prepare
for any other crop he is likely to sow
buckwheat on it. 1t is the general
opinion that any kind of soil, prepared
in any sort of way, will produce
paying crop of buckwheat. While it is
true that it will grow on inferior soil
that is poorly prepared, it is also true
that more and better grain can Ee pro-
duced on good land that is we'll pre-
pared as for other grains. In this lati-
tude it is customary to SOW buckwheat
from the 1st to the 10th of July. 1t
will be ready to harvest before the oc-
currence of frost. It may be cut with
a sickle, cradle, mowing machine or
common scythe. 1t is easily thrashed
with hand-flail. If hens are allowed
to run over the land after the crop is
they will pick up most Of the
grains that have fallen from the stalks.
Times.