The Worthington advance. [volume] (Worthington, Minn.) 1874-1908, 1878-09-05
HOUSE AND FARM.
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Where stock is to be fed, especially
where dairy cows are kept, these roots
are most useful addition the usual win
ter rations, their succulence and health
preserving qualities commencing them
as we'll as the saving which their regular
use permits of more expensive feed.
Mr.. Gregory, who has recently published
a pamphlet on the cultivation OF these
and other roots, has the following to ssy
in their favor:
Besides arguments which are Of
weight for cultivation of all kinds Of
roots, there are special ones for the raising
of lnangolds. The vast bulk of yield ex-
ceeds that of any annual crop, as high as
eighty tons OF roots having been raised to
the acre on the sewerage farms of Eng
land and when to this is added the
weight of leaves that such crop would
carry, it will be safe to say that humid
red :ones have been given to the acre.
Taken as a whole, the mangold has less
enemies and is less apt to fail than any
other root. Compared with the turni }
family, it has several marked advant
ages, being more reliable in dry seasons
and less liable to disease; and In flesh
forming, heat giving and fat-producing
elements it surpasses it.
While the turnip family cannot be
raised repeatedly on the same land, in
deed on most soil can be raised only at
intervals of three or four years, mangolds
can be raised many years in succession,
as Mr.. Mech, the distinguished English
agriculturist. has proved by raising sixty
tons per annum on the same tract of land
Of six acres area, tor six successive years
They will keep longer in good condition
than any other root, under favorable cir.
cumstances even as late as July. Expert.
ments in feeding steers made with care,
proved that while ton of mangolds in.
creased their weight sixty. five pounds, d
ton of Swedes increased their weight but
forty.eight pounds, equal quantities OF
hay having been fed in each experiment
Other experiments have established
about the same proportionate value be.
result was not as favorable. Mangolds
like fruit, undergo a ripeDing change af'
ter they are gathared, and until this il
effected they are not in the best condition
for feeding. The ripening process fol
the most part consists in change Of
starch into sugar, and makes the man
colds both more healthiul aud more
nutritious food. Before this change il
effected they arc apt to scour stock if fed
to any degree literally.
The time when this chemical change
takes place will depend on the degree Of
the ripeness of the crop when stored and
this, as has been clearly shown, is affected
by both the soil on which they grew and
the manure with which they were fed
other conditions equal, those grown or
upland, ripen earlier than those on low.
land, while rank manures tend to prolona
the period Of growth aid crops so grown
come into condition for feeding later il
the season. Experiments carefully made
have proved that when fed to fattenine
animals they should follow and not pre-
cede :urnips. 1t is a good rule in feed
ing this, as with other roots Or ,ubcrs, t.
begin with small quantity and gradu
ally increase the amount to the limit which
the appetite Of the COW, her genera
health and the tale Of the milk pail indi
Gates.
The mangold succeeds best on a gcoi
loan soil. From four to six pounds o.
seeds are required to the acre, and tn,
plants should stand from ten to TIVE lvt
inches apart in rows about two, feet wide