BOOTS, TUBERS, AND MISCELLANEOUS FORAGES 247 



soil. Keitt of the South Carolina Station 16 states that land which under 

 ordinary cropping yields but 20 bushels of corn will produce 200 bushels 

 of sweet potatoes per acre. Dodson of the Louisiana Station 17 considers 

 sweet potatoes the best root crop for hogs for fall and early winter graz- 

 ing. (1004) Conner of the Florida Station 18 found that sweet potatoes 

 may be successfully substituted for half the corn in the ration of work 

 horses, 3 Ibs. of sweet potatoes replacing 1 Ib. of corn. Scott of the same 

 station 19 found that 100 Ibs. of sweet potatoes was as useful as 150 Ibs. 

 of corn silage for dairy cows. While more valuable, sweet potatoes were 

 also far more expensive to produce than the corn silage. 



The vines, tho difficult to gather because they trail and take root at 

 short intervals, are often utilized for feed, usually in the green state. 



377. Chufa, Cyperus esculentus. The chufa sedge, frequently a weed 

 in damp fields on southern farms, produces numerous small, chaffy, 

 edible tubers. These are relished by pigs, which are usually turned in to 

 harvest the crop. As chufas are low in digestible crude protein, protein 

 rich feeds should be added to balance the ration. They grow best on 

 light, sandy soils, yielding from 100 to 150 bushels of 44 Ibs. each per 

 acre. Like artichokes, the tubers remain in the ground uninjured thru 

 the winter. Good crops of chufas have produced 307 to 592 Ibs. of pork 

 per acre, after making allowance for the other feed consumed by the 

 pigs. (1006) 



378. Cassava, Manihot utilissima. Cassava, a bushy plant 4 to 10 feet 

 in height with fleshy roots like those of the sweet potato, grows in Florida 

 and along the Gulf coast. In the tropics varieties having bitter roots 

 containing prussic acid are grown. These must be dried or heated be- 

 fore feeding. The sorts grown in the United States have sweet roots con- 

 taining but a trace of prussic acid. From 5 to 6 tons of roots, carrying 

 from 25 to 30 per ct. of starch, are produced per acre. They are used for 

 the manufacture of starch and for cattle and swine feeding. 20 



Dodson 21 reports that in Louisiana a larger tonnage can be obtained 

 from sweet potatoes than from cassava, and at about one-third the cost. 

 This crop has never been important in the United States and its culture 

 has declined greatly in the last 20 years. The cassava waste of starch 

 factories should be dried for feeding. (785) 



II. MISCELLANEOUS SUCCULENT FEEDS 



379. Cabbage, Brassica oleracea. On rich ground cabbage gives as 

 good returns of palatable forage as do root crops, but as more labor is 

 required in its cultivation, it is but little grown for stock feeding. Cab- 

 bage is highly prized by shepherds when preparing stock for exhibition, 

 and is also used for feeding milk cows, Gill of England 22 considering it 

 superior to rutabagas. Like other plants of the mustard family it 



la S. C. Ept. 1909, p. 32. M Fla. Bui. 72. IT. S. Dept. Agr., Farmers' Bui. 167. 

 "La. Bui. 124. "Fla. Bui. 99. La. Bui. 124. 



22 Jour. Brit. Dairy Assoc., 1898. 



