Vermont farmer. [volume] (Newport, Orleans County, Vt.) 1870-1877, 1873-04-18

lloneysuckle full bloom l2"
Beet lOtoI6"
S;trrots - I2"
Parsnips 10
Pumpkins a. 4"
Potatoes % ="
1t will be seen that by this analysis that
potatoes contain the largest percentage Of
nutriment Of any Of the roots but leave
them out Of the question as their value for
the table is equal to that OF corn which con-
tains over 20 per cent of nutriment Hence
no farmer ought to feed potatoes to stock, but
take the beet, carrot, parsnip and turnp.
Either OF the first three named contain as
much food as does the grass in our pastures.
1t is thus shown that these roots contain
about one.third as much flesh forming matter
as does our best hay or in other words, for
feeding purposes, three hundred pounds of
beets carrots, or parsnips are equal to one
hundred pounds Of good hay. The Swede
turnip, while not SO rich in nutriment, but
being more easily raised, perhaps, has nearly
as much relative value. | am well aware
that roots contain a large percentage Of
water but in feeding with dry hay or straw
it is just the kind OF food the stock need for
a little spice or seasoning, to make other
food well relished. These roots contain,
practically, double the amount Of nutrition of
green white clover, or most Of the grasses !;
and while Of clover you cannot produce over
sixteen to eighteen tons per acre in its green
state, OF turnips you can raise from eighteen
to thirty tons of carrots or parsnps the
same, and Of beets from twenty to forty tons
per acre. Show me the farmer who would
not like to have twenty or thirty tons Of
good fresh, green clover to feed his stock
during our long, cold winters, in order to
keep them in a good healthy condition, and l
will point out to you the farmer who cares
but little for the comfort Of his dumb beasts,
and one who is not up to the spirit of the
times in which we live.
Now as we cannot have the green grass OF
clover to feed our stock in winter, we eau
have substitute-one that is fully equal in
every respeot-simply by the raising of roots
For feeding with hay and straw, four bushels
of bcets, carrots or parsnlps are equal to
one bushel OF corn not because they con-
tain quite as much nutriment, but from their
peculiar action on the digestive organs, which
enable cattle more readily to assimilate their
food Haitian acre in beets, with fair aver
age crop, will yield four hundred bushels
the leaves from which would feed two
cows at night from August to November
and give over two bushels per day Of roots
for six months in the year, enough to feed
one COW aud two hogs until spring. 1t is
also said by those who have tried it, that
One.fourth acre of parSnps will raise enough
to iatten four hogs, besides feeding four more
growing ones until the next spring. A prac.
tical sheep farmer said, q if sheep are fed
all the roots they will eat, they will eat doub
lie the quantity of corn, and put on three
times the weight of flesh that they will with
corn alone" Other cases might be naiued
where roots have been fed with like good re-
suits.
As to which kind Of roots to raise, that
depends upon the stock you wish to feed,
should say turnips for sheep; beets for cows
or swine carrots for horses or cows, and
also parsnipT for cows or swine but of pars-
nips l have had but little experience, these
being much less raised as a field crop than
either of the others. Carrots do not largely
increase the flow Of milk, but add much to
its richness and color. Were they as easily
raised as beets, for dairy think | should
prefer them. While you can raise large
quantities per acre, they require much more
care and labor than either beets or turnips
Parsnips require still more labor than car
rots, from the difficulty Of harvesting them
if you have a large crop,
OF the necessity Of raising roots Of SOM
kind to feed our stock, there is in my minC
not shadow Of doubt. 1t is rare cas-
you can find the farmer that ever success
fully raised them for stock feeding, that ha
abandoned the practice, Could we raise po
tatoes as cheaply and easily, and were the
not worth in the market over twenty cent
per bushel we should all raise them to
large extent for feeding purposes. And ye
beets fed to COWS will increase the flow @
milk nearly five per cent. more than potatoes
or at least this has been my experience upo
a fair test,
One year ago the present winter | trie
the following experiment to test the valu
of beets as compared with potatoes. fe
to four cows each one peck Of beets daily
accurately weighing the milk, and to iou
more fed to each one peck of potatoes da
ly, also weighing their milk. | continued th
two weeks. The increase OF milk from thos
fed with beots was thirteen per cent, Will
those fed with potatoes increased theirs onl
eight per cent, then, to make sure tes
of the trial. reversed the order Of feeding 70
two weeks, giving potatoes to those tina
had been fed with beets, aud beets to tho,
that had been fed with potatoes, weighir
their milk as before, While those iod vii
beets the first two weeks nearly held the
own when fed with potatoes, shrinking onI
about two per cent in their milk those f