ItErOKT ON THE CULTIVATION OF MANGOLD WTTRZEL. 150 



The cows had been fed on the swede diet for a fortnight pre- 

 vious to February 15th, and were changed to the mangold diet as 

 soon as the milk was taken on the 16th. Mr Tynan adds — "As 

 fully three-fourths of the cows were in calf, they were naturally 

 decreasing in yield." 



We are not prepared to ask our reader to place much reliance 

 on either of the above results ; and, without detracting from the 

 value of the experiments, or the merit of the experimenters, we 

 think proper to draw his attention to possible sources of in- 

 accuracy. In the first, the cattle were not weighed, but mea- 

 sured, nor was the quantity of fodder consumed noted. In the 

 second, the increase or decrease in the weight of the cows was 

 not ascertained ; fodder was given ad libitum. No notice was 

 taken of the quality of the milk ; and, above all, no division of the 

 cows was made, so as to have one lot on swedes while the other 

 fed on mangolds. Every dairyman knows how the weather 

 affects the yield of milk, and 2| gallons on the milkings of 

 twenty-three cows might well have been effected by this cause 

 alone. The results are, however, quite in accordance with what 

 might be judged a priori from the comparative analysis of these 

 roots. 



(Dr Voelcker in " Morton's Cyclopedia.") 



Notwithstanding the many advantages of mangolds, we think 

 its acreage, compared with swedes, will always be limited in 

 Scotland ; the climate is so peculiarly adapted for the swede, 

 while it is too cold for the equally successful culture of the 



mangold. 



