Rensselaer Union, Volume 1, Number 41, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 8 July 1869 — Cultivation of Buckwheat. [ARTICLE]

Cultivation of Buckwheat.

It has been said that buckwheat occupies the same position among the grains as the donkej does among animals —useful but not popular. It will grow on the poorest of sandy soils, can be sown later than any other grain; and is one of the best crops for cleaning the land’and for killing the wire worms and other injurious grubs. It has been extensively used for plowing in as a manure. But though it is proved beneficial for this purpose, it is not as good as many other crops that might be used, such as white and red clover. Buckwheat is often sown too early. When too early, the hot sun is apt to blast the flowers. In some parts of New England it is sown early in June, even before the corn is planted. It is best to sow thus early in all sections where there is danger of frosty nights early in the fall, as a slight frost often destroys the crop. In Ohio it is usually not sown until July. We must endeavor to steer between the two dangers, blasting of the flowers in the summer, when sown early, and the deof the crop by frost in the fall when sown late. It succeeds well sown on clover or grass sod. Formerly It was considered best to break up the land in the spring, but lately the practice is to pasture the land, and break up immediately before sowing. From three pecks to a bushel is the usual quantity of seed. Of the use of buckwheat we need not speak. Everybody likes buckwheat cakes on a cold winter morning. It is good food for poultry. Hogs thrive upon and are fond of it. When crushed, it is good feed for horses; more nutritious, it is said, than oats. It is good for milch cows, increasing the quantity and richness of the milk The amount of seed per acre is governed by the strength and condition <>f the soil. On poor lumpy land one bushel per acre should be usea; on strong, mellow soil, from half a bushel to three pecks will be sufficient.— Ohio Farmer.