254 BRITISH HUSBANDRY. [Ch. XX. 



which have heen just sent to us, in answer to some inquiries on the subject, 

 which we lately took the liberty of addressing to his lordship. 



" At Christmas I put two Durliam steers to feeding, the one upon 

 Swedish turnips, tlie other upon niangel-wurtzel. I ascertained 

 the weight of the steers by measurement. 

 First month. 

 " No. 1 consumed 1624- lbs. of Swedish turnips, and increased in weight 



34 lbs. 

 " No. 2 consumed 1848 lbs. of mangel-wurtzel, and increased in weight 

 52 lbs. 

 Second month : 

 " No. 1 consumed 1884 lbs. of mangel-wurtzel, and increased in weight 



32 lbs. 

 " No. 2 consumed 1880 lbs. of Swedish turnips, and increased in weight 

 14 lbs. 

 Third month : 

 " No. 1 consumed 1792 lbs of mangel-wurztel, and increased in weight 



50lbs. 

 " No. 2 consumed I792lbs of mangel-wurtzel, and increased in weight 



31 lbs. 

 " The year following I tried an experiment of a similar nature upon an 

 individual beast, and the result appearing to be the same, I pursued it only 

 for two months, and I do not at ])resent know the exact particulars. 



" The comparison between the increments of the two animals during the 

 two first months should not only be observed, but the fact that when 

 No. 2 was changed from mangel-wurtzel to Swedish turnips, in the second 

 month, his g-rowth was nearly stopped ; but as soon as he was again put to 

 mangel-wurtzel, in the third month, he began to increase again." 



The result of a trial so much in contradiction to those to which we have 

 already alluded, cannot fail to strike practical men as very extraordinary, 

 and must be admitted as a strong additional proof of the caution which 

 should be observed in drawing positive conclusions from isolated facts ; 

 we therefore trust the subject will not be allowed to drop until further com- 

 parative experiments shall have been made. We should, however, observe, 

 that although foreign writers on agriculture place a high value upon the 

 nutritious properties of mangel-wurtzel — assuming them to be, in compa- 

 rison with those of meadow hay, in the proportion of 10 to 46 ; yet they 

 do not, in any instance with which we are acquainted, advise its being given 

 without a mixture of hay, straw, or other roots ; nor in the proportion of 

 more than two-thirds of the entire quantity of food. Combined with pota- 

 toes either steamed or raw, it is said to have a particularly fine effect upon 

 the milk of cows. 



"With regard to the effect of its growth upon the future crops of a rota- 

 tion, they even consider it so far exhausting, as that the succeeding corn 

 should have a slight dressing : of course in yjroportion to tliat previously 

 given to the mangel-wurtzel. Among English farmers it would appear, 

 from the answers made to the inquiries of the Doncaster Committee, that 

 opinions are upon that subject divided : six representing it as detrimental ; 

 two stating the proportion of deficiency to be one-fifth ; and eight describ- 

 ing it as not injurious *. 



The Committee have devoted considerable attention to the investigation, 



* Report of the Committee of the Doncaster Agricultural Association, on the advan- 

 tage of mangel-wurtzel as a fallow crop. 1830, p. 3, 



