ROOT CROPS 97 



invaluable to feed to milk cows wliea the pastures are failing, and llie cows 

 need to be kept with a full flow of milk and not allowed on the mowing fields, 

 thereby saving all of the manure and getting more milk. 



This has been my practice for ten years past. I have some years kept four 

 cows for four weeks entirely upon the tops of the carrot, mangold, and turnip, 

 the cows being in the barn and barn-yard all of the time. Some years I have 

 turned them on to about two or three acres of land, and spread the tops of the 

 roots round the field for them to pick up ; but in so doing I lost most of the 

 manure, all of the liquid portion, and the solid was of little use to the land, as 

 all observing farmers will testify. The turnip top should be fed sparingly to 

 cows giving milk, as it imparts the turnip flavor to the milk and cream more 

 readily than other root tops, and more than the turnip itself. 



THE FEEDING OF MANGOLDS. 



This should never be commenced till January, or, as they practice in the old 

 country, till Christmas, as " they are not ripe and not safe to feed," frequently 

 Giusing stock to " scour" if fed too early. In feeding them to cows and young 

 cattle I have found that it has been very much to my advantage over grain, 

 taking all things into account. I have grown better looking heifers and 

 calves without any grain, and cheaper than upon grain and hay. All young 

 animals should have something more than hay while growing ; they will keep 

 in better health, have better appetites, will eat up coarse fodder cleaner. Their 

 hair is always sleek and glossy ; they are in good spirits, always feeling well. 

 Cows that are with calf, and are " coming in" in the spring, are in better con- 

 dition, and my cows never have any trouble at that time ; make better bags, 

 and are less likely to make a miscan-iage. I have known many cows that have 

 had trouble, and frequently died when they were in high condition, having been 

 fed with grain during the winter with no exercise; they were not in a good healthy 

 condition. Cows that are in milk dui'ing the winter, eating one peck of roots 

 per day, will eat no less hay, but will look better, although it is but a small 

 quantity to feed. When I have a large supply of roots I practice giving from 

 half a bushel to a bushel each day, directly after milking, and never found the 

 roots imparting any unpleasant taste to the milk or cream. Then I have 

 found they would not eat so much hay, but would grow fat, and it has been 

 remarked to me, that " you give considerable grain to your cows : what kind 

 do you feed, &c.?" I can say the same in feeding roots to sheep ; they would 

 not eat so much hay. I have had a very good trial of that the past winter. 

 Kot having so many roots this last year, I have been obliged to be more 

 economical with them, and have fed them to the ewes and cows that are to come 

 in this spring. 1 find my other sheep are not doing as well as they did the two 

 previous winters. I have lost more than ever before, have had more ailino-, and 

 they do not look as well. I have a regular hospital for feeble sheep, where I 

 can give them better feed and more attention. During the winter of lS62-'63 

 I fed out to my sheep and cows seven bushels a day, and am satisfied that had 

 it not been for my roots I should have been obliged to have bought several tons 

 of hay to have kept my stock out, and they would not have been in so good 

 condition, nor looking as well as they did. 



In taking care of the mangolds during the season, it is of great importance to 

 keep them free from weeds, and the ground often cultivated and ploughed be- 

 tween the rows. When they have grown to a tolerable size, say in August and 

 September, care should be used in not injuring or breaking them down, though 

 1 have seen it suggested that the leaves might be broken oS and fed to cows, 

 &c. I am sure that such practice would injure the crop materially. I had an 

 acre or two one year, and, after haying, the weeds began to show themselves 

 above the mangolds. My man went through the line and pulled up the large 



