548 Bulletin 317 



tilizcrs on this particular soil. Lime applied for mangels was not profitable. 

 Different results might be obtained on other types of soil. The garden 

 drill was more efficient for seeding than the grain drill, and commercial 

 seed was as good as home-grown seed. 



For two winter seasons, beginning in 1907, experiments were made 

 • by the Department of Animal Husbandry at Cornell University in order 

 " to determine the value of the dry matter in mangels as compared with 

 the dry matter in silage, and to determine the value of the dry matter in 

 mangels as compared with the dry matter in grain, in rations for milk- 

 producing cows." The results of those experiments were published in 

 Bulletin 268. The conclusions reached were in part as follows: 



" One pound of dry matter in mangels is a little more than equal to 

 one pound of dry matter in silage. 



"One pound of dry matter in mangels is equal to one pound of dry 

 matter in grain, and mangels may replace one half the ordinary grain 

 ration with mixed hay and silage." 



It was shown further that when mangels could be produced at $4 a ton 

 they might be economically used to replace one half the grain rations 

 ordinarily fed if commercial feeding-stuffs averaged $30 a ton. 



RECENT EXPERIMENTS 



The present bulletin reports the results of further practical experiments 

 in the production of mangels and of silage corn diiring the four years 

 1908 to 191 1, inclusive. The results of the previous experiments were 

 used as guides in choosing varieties, in applying fertilizers, and in cultural 

 methods. The crops of mangels and com were grown on different fields 

 of the Cornell University farms in the course of a definite rotation, but 

 not always with the same previous preparation. The areas devoted to 

 root crops were as large as the farm requirements for roots necessitated. 

 For three years carrots and rutabagas were grown in the field with mangels 

 and the results measured by the same methods. The areas devoted to 

 com were similar in size, and for three years occupied the same field with 

 the mangels on as nearly uniform soil conditions as were possible in prac- 

 tice. The corn crop of 191 1 was grown on the same soil type as was the 

 mangel crop, but a farm roadway separated the two plats and their treat- 

 ment the previous year was different, though conduci\'e to good crops of 

 each. The general plan of the experiments for four years was to grow the 

 best possible crops of corn and roots by using^ as a guide the facts gained 

 in previous experiments and the best-known practice for com-growdng 

 on clay loam soils. The costs of seed, labor, and fertilizers for each kind 

 of crop were kept, the areas measured, the yields weighed, and samples 

 for analysis were taken by the Department of Farm Practice. Dry-matter 



