Varieties.
There are three principal varieties of buckwheat grown in America : the common Gray, Silver-hull and Japanese. The Silver-hull is slightly smaller than the common Gray ; the color is lighter and of a glossy, silvery appearance. The Japanese is larger than the Gray and of somewhat darker color, and there is a tendency for the angles or edges of the hull to extend into a wing, making the faces of the grain more concave. The plant of the Japanese variety is a somewhat larger grower than the others and the flowers seem not to he so subject to blasting from hot sunshine. For this reason it is recommended in some localities to sow the Silver-hull and Japanese va rieties mixed, it being asserted that the hardier Japanese variety will shade and protect the other from the hot sunshine, thus avoid ing blasting and securing a larger zone of seed-bearing straw than is furnished by either sort alone, a larger yield resulting.
Each of these varieties has produced largest yield in certain tests. It seems that there is an adaptation of variety to soil or climate, or, perhaps, to weather conditions, that has not yet been worked out, which produces these contradictory results. However, the yielding quality of the Japan ese variety is usually conceded to be superior to the others. Formerly, the flouring qualities of this variety were pronounced by many millers to be inferior to the other sorts, and not infrequently the price of Japanese buckwheat was five or ten cents per bushel less than the others. In some localities this condition still prevails ; in others the reverse is true. In parts of Seneca county, N. Y., in recent seasons the millers have offered an advance of five cents per bushel for the Japanese variety. Whether this results from change in the quality of the grain due to acclimatization or to better adaptation of the milling methods to the variety has not been ascertained.
Uses.
Formerly a considerable part of the buckwheat was used for animal food, only enough flour being manufactured to meet the requirements of the rural districts during the winter season. Of late, the demand for the flour in the cities has been such that most of the grain is ground for flour and less of the flour is consumed in the rural districts.
Buckwheat flour is whitei than that made from wheat and has a peculiar mealy feel to the hand that enables one readily to distinguish it from wheat flour. The first flour on the market after harvest brings a high price, but the price rapidly declines as the supply increases. The grain must be well dried and the grinding done in cool, dry weather to get best results in milling. The yield of flour per bushel of buckwheat is usually about twenty-five pounds, though twenty-eight or more may be secured if the grain is plump and very drv. The middlings. a bv-nroduct of the flouring process, is much sought by dairymen as food for dairy cows because of its high content of protein. The hulls have little or no value. Sometimes they are
ground and used as an adulterant for black pepper.
Buckwheat grain is much relished by poultry and has the reputation of being of special value in egg production. In recent feeding experiments this reputation is scarcely sustained.
Buckwheat is also a well-known honey plant (see Vol. III).
Enemies.
The buckwheat crop is unusually free from interference from weeds or plant diseases. It starts so quickly and grows so rapidly that most weeds get no chance to make headway against it. In fact, buckwheat is one of the best crops for cleaning land by smothering out weed growths. Wild birds as well as domestic are fond of the grain, and, when abundant, sometimes cause considerable loss. No insect or fungous troubles have been suf ficiently destructive to attract much attention.
Literature.
The literature on buckwheat is meager. A few of the experiment stations have bulletins on the subject, and discussions have been published in the Yearbooks of the United States Department of Agriculture, and in the agricultural press, notably, the Country Gentleman. The three publications fol lowing devote some space to buckwheat : Hunt, Cereals in America, pp. 400-410; Wilson, Our Farm Crops, London, Vol. 1, pp. 188-196 ; Cornell Bulletin, No. 238.
such plants our common headed cabbage (Brassica oleracea, var. capitata, DC.) has been derived; others bear small cabbages in the axils of leaves and from such the Brussels sprout (Brassica oleracea, var. gemmifera, Hort.) has arisen. The leaves of the wild plant are bluish green, fleshy and hair less like those of the cultivated cabbage, and either entire or indented in outline. The latter character apparently has been developed to a marked de gree in our kale (Brassica oleracea, var. acephala, DC.), of which there are so many forms ; other wild plants show the blistered leaf which is seen in such an exaggerated form in the Savoy cabbage (Brassica oleracea, var. bullata, DC.) and also in the Brussels sprout. The leaves of the wild plant are normally green, but they become red or purple by exposure to the sun or when old and diseased ; by selection we have developed the reddish or purple color as a permanent character in all the forms. Finally, the flower has been modified. In the wild plant the flowers are borne on stalks much like a large wild carrot, some of the stalks being long and others short. By selection of plants in which the flower-stalks had a tendency to become thick ened and shortened, the cauliflower and broccoli (Brassica oleracea, var. botrytis, DC.) probably were produced, the former from a thick-ribbed smooth leaved form, and the latter from a thin-ribbed form.
The wild cabbage has been used as food from time immemorial. The head cabbage was developed in northern Europe, where it has long been grown. The headless forms were early grown in southern Europe. Climatic conditions seem to have contrib uted in deciding this division of types. The bulk of