No. 105.] 515 



ROOTS FOR STOCK. 



Extract from a letter from Wm. McUnster of Conn,, on the subject of 



Roots as food for Stock. 



" I consider the root crop as the only sure one. I therefore have 

 been in the habit of raising roots for my stock for several years, and I 

 do not think I could do well without them. I will therefore state, as 

 nearly as I can, my mode of raising them, feeding, &c. 



" Carrots I consider the most valuable; I feed them to all kinds of 

 stock ; and think them better for my horses than oats, and for my 

 milch cows in winter ; they not only give the butter color, but flavor 

 equal to summer-made butter. I raise them in drills, the rows about 

 20 inches apart, and the carrot in the row say from four to six inches ; 

 mangel wurtzel in drills two feet apart in the row, and one foot in the 

 drill ; sugar beet the same distance ; ruta baga two feet apart in the 

 row, and about nine inches in the drill ; and common turnips I sow 

 broadcast as follows : say in June I find some pieces in my lots, in- 

 tended for mowing, that the grass has winter-killed, or in some way is 

 destroyed : these pieces I plow up, taking care to turn them over as 

 well as I can, sometimes before and sometimes after mowing, but al- 

 ways in time to sow and re-seed with grass by the 20th July. I roll 

 my land, and harrow it well the same way I plowed it, and put on 

 about 15 cords of manure to the acre, (barn- yard manure); I harrow 

 until all is well mixed ; I then sow my turnips, say one half pint of 

 seed to the acre ; it is my wish not to have the seed nearer than nine 

 inches of each other ; in doing so I give my grass seed a chance to 

 take root. At the time of sowing my turnips, I sow a compost pre- 

 pared as follows : ashes fifteen bushels, bone dust five bushels, plaster 

 one bushel, per acre ; in this way I always raise good turnips, and I 

 think at a triiling expense, as all that was done was with a view to re- 

 seed the land, &c. As to the other root crops, the same rule as to ma- 

 nuring will apply to them, but the ground must be made mellow to 

 any depth you please, the deeper the better. I use the same compost 

 in the drills for all my roots, taking care at all times to apply it in a 

 moist condition. I raised the last season the white Silesian carrot at 

 the rate of 960 bushels to the acre j but I prefer the orange carrot. 

 As to feeding roots, I feed them to my fat cattle, cows, horses, and 

 hogs, in the raw state ; nor do I think it advisable to cook them for 

 any animal except the fatting hogs. I then boil them and mix pro- 

 vender, and feed when soured. Quantity per day : I feed my fatting 

 cattle, say three-fourths of a peck, to be fed at two different times, say 

 morning and evening ; my milch cows half bushel per day ; my store 

 hogs, of beets three lbs. per hog, and one gill of corn per feed. By 

 feeding in this way, I have always found my stock to improve, and I 

 have never had them scour or be injured in any way from their feed 

 on roots. I continue feeding on roots to my fat cattle until about the 

 1st of January ; I then commence feeding on meal, made with corn, 

 and cob, and continue the roots at discretion in smaller quantities." 



[Senate, No. 105.] 33 



