264 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



flesh, especially if the cow is in calf. To provide against the short 

 feed during the dry weather of August and September, there 

 should be in reserve a good supply of succulent food to be used 

 as required. For this season of the year, corn, sown closely in 

 drills or broadcast, is undoubtedly the cheapest and best green 

 food we can furnish ; but this will last only until the September 

 or October frosts, leaving still two months during which time 

 cows should be kept in milk. If not fully supplied, during this 

 time, with some food more nutritious than the frost-bitten grass, 

 or hay, they will shrink much in their flow of milk. 



I believe we shall find the root crop the most valuable auxiliary 

 food for the late fall months, and also in spriug after the cows 

 come in, and before the pastures furnish a sufficient supply of 

 grass. Dairymen should turn their attention more to the cultiva- 

 tion of roots. Judging from my own experience, they will find it 

 greatly to their advantage to, make a special business of root 

 raising, to feed their cows during the fall and spring to aid in the 

 production of milk, and in winter for health. Unless we keep our 

 cows in a sound, healthy condition, no profit can be expected ; 

 and with a view to this there should be frequent changes of food. 

 Roots will best supply these changes. They are of more value 

 than the mere nutriment they contain. They assist the digestive 

 process, and enable the animals to obtain more nourishment from 

 the fodder consumed than they otherwise would, keep them in 

 better health, and give them better appetites, causing them to eat 

 up the coarse fodder cleaner. 



The question then arises, "Which of the various root crops, all 

 things considered, is the best and most profitable to raise?" In 

 deciding this question we must consider the quantity raised to the 

 acre, the quality, and the expense of raising the crop. Labor is 

 the great item of expense on the farm, and especially is this the 

 case in cultivating the root crop. In raising roots*we should 

 always plan to economise labor. 



Potatoes, containing as they do a large amount of starch, will 

 fatten a cow rapidly, and will increase the quantity, but not the 

 quality of milk. But the market value of this root is too great to 

 allow feeding it extensively. The Swedish turnip furnishes a 

 large amount of nutritious food to the acre, but one of the great 

 objections to the turnip is the unpleasant turnipy flavor it gives 

 to the milk and butter. The carrot I consider a most valuable 

 root, but it requires more labor in its cultivation than almost any 



