Root-Crops for Stock-Feeding. 115 



or thrown directly into the wagon. It is thought that pihng and after- 

 wards loading- is less fatiguing than throwing the roots directly into 

 the wagon as pulled. The roots should reach their place of storage with 

 as little dirt and bruising as possible. 



Roots may be stored in a cellar, or in a pit in the field. The cellar 

 is the better, whenever practicable. It may be a part of the barn struc- 

 ture, or built under the driveway of a bank barn, or it may be built as a 

 dugout in a side hill near the barn. Perhaps concrete is the best mate- 

 rial for construction. It should be not over seven or eight feet deep and 

 large enough to hold the yield or supply. It is best to have it located and 

 constructed in such a way that the roots can be dropped in from above, 

 preferably through trap doors in the bottom of the wagon and the roof 

 of the cellar. It is essential that the walls (if built in the ground) and 

 the floor have good drainage and that ventilation be provided through 

 the top, and that the construction be frost proof. The ventilators should 

 be left open until sweating has ceased, when they may be closed for the 

 winter. In winter the cellar should be kept closed as much as possible 

 on warm days. Roots should be so placed that turnips may be fed first, 

 rutabagas next and after these mangels and carrots. 



If stored in a pit in the field, a high dry place should be chosen. If 

 the ground is clayey the roots should be placed on top of the ground ; 

 if it is gravelly and drainage is good, a shallow pit about five feet wide 

 and of necessary length may be shoveled out. The roots should be care- 

 fully placed in a gable-shaped pile about five feet wide and as long as 

 convenient. A thin layer of straw should then be laid over the pile and 

 this covered with six to eight inches of earth. Another and thicker layer 

 of straw and a final layer of earth will complete the work. Ventilators 

 should be placed at intervals of ten or fifteen feet, which should be closed 

 when sweating has ceased. The pit should not be opened on warm days 

 in winter. A ditch for drainage should be cut around the pit. Roots 

 stored in this way do not keep as well as when stored in a good cellar; 

 therefore, they should be fed out as early as possible. 



FEEDING. 



Roots of some kind are good for all domestic animals. Their efifect 

 is tonic as well as nutritive. Breeders and feeders of animals for exhibi- 

 tion find them invaluable. For most purposes the roots are chopped or 

 sliced before feeding. Various hand and power machines are on the 

 market for this work. Generally speaking, roots should not be fed alone 

 as they carry too much water. A feed may vary from 25 to 50 pounds 

 per day for a thousand pounds of animal, according to the amount of 

 dry concentrates and roughage fed. It is usual to put the cut roots into 



