536 



STATE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



F'ig. 2'5. The root crop is the best crop for the new settler to grow for a succulent winter 

 feed. This field of purple-top rutabagas yielded 20 tons per acre in 1919. 



The seed is small and requires a clean well-firmed seed-bed. One pound 

 of seed per acre is sufficient if it can be uniformly sown. The usual 

 practice, however, is to seed somewhat heavier and then block and thin 

 to a plant every 4 to 6 inches, when the plants are up. 



Eoot crops may be harvested by pulling and topping or by topping 

 with a sharp hoe and then plowing out the roots. 



Storage of roots can best be effected by utilizing a portion of the 

 regular root house, potato cellar or by putting them in a pit. If they 

 are to be fed as a part of the daily ration to livestock it is better to have 

 them in a root cellar adjacent to the barn. 



« 



Opportunities for Livestock Production. 



The Upper Peninsula is especially well adapted to the development of 

 livestock. It has climatic conditions which favor long grazing seasons, 

 soils capable of producing feed for winter use, large areas of compara- 

 tively cheap land for pasture purposes and an accessability to markets 

 comparable with any section of the middle west. 



Only about seven per cent of the arable land of the Upper Peninsula 

 is under cultivation. A large percentage of the cut-over land has grown 

 up to grass and undergrowth. The natural pasture is composed largely 

 of blue grass, the clovers and timothy. On all of -the limestone areas, 

 the clovers grow in abundance shortly after the timber is removed, 

 usually starting from the logging roads and spreading over the entire 

 area. These facts indicate the possibilities of extensive livestock de- 

 velopment in this large area of productive land. 



The grazing season has a range of from five to seven months, de- 

 pending upon location, class of stock, and the shortness to whigh tke 



