420 Bulletin 267. 



the place of part of the concentrates and at the same time stimulate 

 digestion of the dry fodder and grain through the quality of succulence. 

 Where the feeding of silage for milk production is forbidden by the 

 milk buyer, or where a dairy herd is so small that the owner feels it 

 unwise to invest in a silo, the mangel crop offers a means of maintaining 

 the health of the herd and the flow of milk during the winter months 

 at a reasonable cost. 



The poultryman, who wishes to feed his laying stock a succulent 

 food during confinement to pens and houses, finds in the mangel crop 

 something that his fowls like, and which can be readily stored so that 

 the freshness is retained throughout the winter. 



Where the season is too short or too cool for successful corn growing, 

 mangels and rutabagas can be grown successfully for fattening cattle and 

 sheep, or sustaining the production of milk during the fall and winter 

 months. Mangels may be fed to horses but carrots are looked upon with 

 greater favor for this purpose, because of their tonic and stimulating effect. 

 Carrots require more intensive cultivation to produce profitable crops 

 than do either mangels or rutabagas, but for use as a condiment or relish 

 rather than as a staple article of stock food their culture deserves 

 attention. 



As a convenient form of succulent food for live stock exhibited at 

 fairs, shows and exhibitions, and to put a fine finish on exhibition ani- 

 mals, root crops seem to have the preference with many feeders. 



The possibility of securing large yields of highly digestible dry matter 

 in the form of roots, especially mangels, has been demonstrated in 

 previous experiments. It seems proper that not only the best varieties 

 of the most suitable classes of root crops should be grown but that the 

 most practical and inexpensive methods of culture should be studied 

 so that the economy of growing these valuable crops may be reduced to 

 a profitable level when compared with the cost of other feeding-stuffs. 



An investigation of the economy of growing root-crops, primarily 

 as a partial substitute for the grain ration of milch cows, was begun 

 by this Station in 1904. The work of the first three years consisted of 

 a test of types and varieties, the results of which, together with sug- 

 gestions regarding their culture, are given in bulletins 243 and 244 of 

 this Station. 



The work of the past two seasons may be grouped under the fol- 

 lowing heads: 



1. A comparison of methods of planting, rate of seeding and source 

 of seed. 



2. A study of the fertilizer requirements of mangels. 



