KEEPING OXE COW. 77 



of Jerusalem potatoes equivalent to thirty-three pounds of hay, 

 under which the milk may be said to have remained stationary, 

 though it was above rather than under the six pints per diem, as 

 in the sixth experiment," (with Irish potatoes). 



I consider, therefore, that, according to experiment and analysis, 

 the Jerusalem Artichoke is fully equal to the potato as food for 

 stock, and greatly superior to beets, turnips, and carrots. In the 

 regimen that I have prescribed for the cow, I have given the Jeru- 

 salem Artichoke the preference over all other roots, because I 

 deem it superior to them in all respects. It contains more nutri- 

 ment than any of them, excepting the potato ; it is less exhaustive 

 of the soil, and more efficacious in improving it ; it produces a 

 larger crop : it is less liable to failure in adverse weather ; it keeps 

 batter and with less care : it is eaten with a greater relish by stock; 

 and it requires less labor in cultivating, harvesting, and feeding it 

 Analysis has shown that it contains its carbonaceous principles in 

 the form of sugar instead of starch, 14.8 parts of uncrystallizable 

 sugar having been found in one hundred parts of the tuber. It 

 has no starch cells to be broken up by boiling, in order to make it 

 a digestible aliment; and how large soever the tubers may be, they 

 can be fed without being cut into slices, on account of their fragil- 

 ity and brittleness, being masticated by the cow without difficulty 

 or danger of choking, 



The Jerusalem Artichoke is little known and cultivated in this 

 country, and its merits are not fully appreciated anywhere. The 

 reason probably is because there is but a limited demand for it in 

 the market. But it should not be neglected on that account ; for 

 it is not the less valuable, because the profits derived from it are 

 indirect. It should never be raised as a volunteer crop, as is too 

 often the case, but should be regularly planted and worked like 

 other products. I have discussed this plant as advantageous food 

 for "one" cow, and I may add that it is equally meritorious for 

 any number of cows. But its advantages do not stop here. 

 Horses, cattle, sheep, and swine, thrive and fatten on it, and the 

 millions of acres of exhausted and deteriorated lands, that descend 

 as a profitless inheritance from generation to generation in the 

 Eastern and Southern States, can be improved and kept fertile, 

 with profit to the farmer during the process of renovation, with- 

 out the aid of artificial fertilizers or imported manures, by feeding 

 the tubers of the Jerusalem Artichoke to stock on the farm. 



