246 FEEDS AND FEEDING 



Knowing their feeding value, the farmer is in position to utilize the 

 crop wisely, for feeding his live stock, rather than to force it on a profit- 

 less market. Potatoes are chiefly employed for swine feeding (1001), 

 but may be fed in limited amounts to cattle, sheep, and horses in partial 

 substitution for grain. For pigs the tubers should be boiled or steamed, 

 and mixed with meal. The heavy feeding of raw potatoes is not ad- 

 visable, as it induces scouring, but they may be fed in limited amounts 

 sliced and mixed with dry feed. The bitter-tasting water in which 

 potatoes are cooked should be thrown away, especially if the tubers are 

 not sound. According to Pott, 11 potatoes may furnish half the dry 

 matter in the ration for fattening cattle and sheep, and one-fourth for 

 horses. (511) Milk cows should not be fed more than 30 to 35 Ibs., as 

 larger amounts injure the quality of the butter. (640) Unripe potatoes 

 and especially the sprouts of stored potatoes contain considerable 

 solanin, a poisonous compound; hence in feeding potatoes any sprouts 

 should be removed. 



In Germany where machinery for drying potatoes has been perfected, 

 the dried product is quite extensively fed to live stock. To produce 1 ton 

 of the dried potato flakes from 3.5 to 4.0 tons of raw potatoes are re- 

 quired. 



375. Jerusalem artichoke, Helianthus tuberosus. The tubers of this 

 hardy perennial, which resemble the potato in composition, are sometimes 

 used for human food and for feeding stock. The tubers live over winter 

 in the ground and enough are usually left to make the next crop. Due to 

 this the plant may sometimes become a weed. Goessmann of the Massa- 

 chusetts Station 12 reports artichokes yielding at the rate of 8.2 tons per 

 acre. They may be harvested in the same manner as potatoes, or hogs 

 may be turned in the field to root out the tubers. At the Oregon Sta- 

 tion 13 6 pigs confined to one-eighth of an acre of artichokes gained 244 

 Ibs., consuming 756 Ibs. of ground wheat and oats in addition to the 

 tubers. Allowing 500 Ibs. of grain for 100 Ibs. of gain, we find that an 

 acre of artichokes was worth 3,700 Ibs. of mixed wheat and oats. The pigs 

 made but little gain on artichokes alone. 



Pott 14 reports that the leaves and stems may be cut when half the leaves 

 are still green, without reducing the yield of tubers. This forage may be 

 fed to sheep, goats, or dairy cows with good results. Despite the many 

 enthusiastic endorsements of artichokes no community in this country 

 seems to grow them continuously a significant fact. (511, 1002) 



376. Sweet potato, Ipomaea batatas. The sweet potato, a southern crop 

 grown as far north as New Jersey and Illinois, serves not only for human 

 food, but also for feeding stock, especially swine, which do their own har- 

 vesting. Tho the average yield is less than 90 bushels per acre, some 

 farmers raise fully 200 bushels. 15 The sweet potato is at its best on sandy 



"Handb. Ernahr. u. Futter., II, 1907, pp. 363, 366-7. 

 "Mass. Rpt. 10. "Ore. Bui. 54. 

 "Handb. EJrnahr. u. Futter., II, 1907, p. 196. 

 "Duggar, Southern Field Crops, p. 449. 



