506 ^^^ Forage Crops. [November, 



ements; and which makes known the very important fact that the 

 elements which enter so Largely into the composition of the dried 

 grasses, — hay, and the corn-cob are the self same elements and prox- 

 imate principles that go to constitute the animal muscle, nerve, and 

 bone. When this comes to be revealed we can readily understand 

 why there is nutritive virtue found even in the woody fiber of the 

 corn-cob. Consequently, whatever virtue or nutrition there is in the 

 corn-cob, is, by this 'crushing' process, entirely saved, while the ad- 

 dition of the matter of the cob to the grain itself serves the purpose, 

 in a great measure, of supplying the rough food so essential to health- 

 ful digestion. But in many instances even the cob will not be suf- 

 ficient of this kind of food to correct the tendency of the ground 

 grain to produce diarrhea; in such case let the cutting-box be called 

 in to supply more of the coarse forage, — more of the "woody fiber" . 

 in the shape of straw, or hay: and in this way the full virtue of the 

 corn is obtained without the least harm to the digestive functions of 

 the domestic animal. By the judicious mixture, therefore, of the 

 crude and coarse forage, cut with the solid food crushed or ground, 

 we both promote the health of our stock and secure economy in our 

 forage. 



But, what substitutes can be produced to cheapen our present for- 

 age crops? This is tantamount to the inquiry as to what productions 

 can be added to our forage supplies that may render us more inde- 

 pendent of hay, oats, and corn. When we come to consider that the 

 stock growers of other countries do not use a tithe of the hay and 

 solid grain consumed by our cattle and horses, we see at once the 

 comparatively trifling attention that has here been given to the root 

 crops for forage. It is evident, from the present tendency of prices 

 and limited supplies of our common forage, that the root crops will 

 not be much longer neglected. Turnips, carrots, and parsnips can 

 all be reared abundantly and at much less cost than the forage crops 

 now usually relied upon. The carrot is a more certain crop than the 

 turnip, and more prolific than the parsnip. In New York and Con- 

 necticut, where it is in great favor with the cattle raisers and dairy- 

 men, the carrot has yielded from one thousand to fifteen hundred 

 bushels to the acre, accounting sixty pounds to the bushel. It is 

 there regarded as an indispensable crop for the feeding of stock. — 

 The parsnip is also found to be of great value in forage, and furnish- 

 es an excellent food for horses, cattle, and swine : it is more nutri- 

 tious than the carrot. The winter butter, (with us so hlanc and 



