6 PRICKLY COMFREY AS A FORAGE CROP. 



seed. These root cuttings may be either crown cuttings (fig. 2, B) or 

 transverse sections of the lower taproots (fig. 2, C), and they may be 

 quite small, so that the number secured from a single plant will be 

 considerable even in one year. They are planted in rows, usually 

 about 3 feet apart each way, or 3 feet between the rows and 1^ to 2 

 feet apart in the row, the distance depending on the fertility of the 

 soil. When first planted, the young sets must be given frequent and 

 thorough cultivation. The sets made from crown cuttings usually 

 bloom the first year, while those made from pieces of the taproots will 

 not bloom as a rule until the second season. 



CULTURE OF THE CROP. 



Cultivation should be continued after each cutting until the plants 

 are large enough to shade the ground, and a light top-dressing of 

 manure should be given the field after each cutting if large and fre- 

 quent crops are to be expected. The cuttings should always be made 

 before seed has formed. From three to six crops a year may be ob- 

 tained, and in good soil a field is supposed to last from fifteen to 

 twenty j^ears without replanting, returning a yield of 10 to 40 tons . 

 of green feed per acre each year. 



VALUE OF PRICKLY COMFREY AS A SOILING CROP FOR DAIRY 



COWS. 



It is as a soiling crop for dairy cows that comfrey has provetl of 

 most value. Dr. Henry Foster, of Chfton Springs, N. Y., has been 

 in the past the most enthusiastic advocate of comfrey for this pur- 

 pose." Doctor Foster top-dressed his fields with manure after each 

 cutting and cultivated thoroughly. In this way he claimed to have 

 secured a yield of 50 tons per acre in five cutthigs. According to 

 his statement the cows ate it greedily, and no other crop equaled it 

 in producing quantity and quality of milk. 



At the New York Agricultural Experiment Station" dairy cows at 

 first refused to eat green comfrey. Corn meal was then sprinkled 

 over the comfrey in the manger, but it was knocked ofl" and licked 

 up from the bottom of the feed boxes. As a last resource, salt was 

 scattered over the comfrey and the animals were thus induced to eat 

 it. They soon became fond of it and afterwards ate it readil}' with- 

 out salting. 



VALUE OF PRICKLY COMFREY FOR FEEDING HOGS. 



Experiments were carried on at the New York Agricultural Exi)eri- 

 ment Station'' in which two lots of hogs, averaging 64 pounds each, 

 were fed during three weeks all the comfre}^ they would eat, in addi- 



o Report, New York Agricultural Experiment Station, 1887, p. 72. 

 b Bulletin 22, n. s., New York Agricultural Experiment Station, pp. 292-295. 

 [Cir. 47] 



