42 FOBAGE CROPS IN DENMARK 



when the wedge is scraped out along the sides of the root where 

 the rootlets sit a higher result is obtained than when scraping 

 along the smooth parts. He found, for instance, along the 

 rootlets 15-45 per cent, of solids, and along the smooth part 

 of the same root 14"81 per cent. This, of course, applies only 

 to roots of beets. He also found that the outside parts of a 

 root contain more solids than the centre part, for instance, 

 14'49 as against 13*72 per cent. The not unusual method of 

 cutting a cylinder out of a root by boring it through from side 

 to side is therefore also unreliable. In the first place the 

 cylindrical plug contains too large a proportion of the centre 

 part ; secondly, the result will vary according to whether the 

 boring is done through the parts with the rootlets or through 

 the smooth sides. As far back as 1893 Helweg 1 devised a 

 method of getting a true average sample, containing the correct 

 proportion of the outside and the inside parts, and of all sides 

 of the root. His method, described in Kristensen's Eeport of 

 1916, and adopted in most countries where roots are frequently 

 analysed, is as follows : 



The 50 roots of the sample are cut by means of a circular 

 saw, 1 mm. ($ inch) wide and 45 cm. (17 to 18 inches) in 

 diameter, fixed in an opening in a table. The teeth in the saw, 

 5 to the inch, must be sharp and turned out, so as to let the saw 

 run free ; they should be filed so as to run to a point on the 

 side turned out, like a saw for cutting branches off trees. The 

 roots are cut across perpendicularly on their axes, and the 

 same distance, about 2J inches, is kept between the different 

 cuts, independently of the size or shape of the root. The 

 distance between the cuts should be so regulated that the amount 

 of pulp produced by cutting 50 roots is about 1 kg. (2J Ibs.). A 

 guide is fixed on the table at the side of the saw to regulate the 

 distance between the cuts. 



Underneath the saw is a zinc trough for receiving the pulp 

 cut off by the saw. When the 50 roots have been cut, the 

 pulp is carefully mixed, and 3 samples of 10 to 15 grammes 

 weighed off for estimation of total solids and, if wanted, of 

 sugar. 



1 L. Helweg, " Den kemiske Besteinmelse af Foderroens Nseringsindhold," 

 Tidsakrift for Landbrugets Planteavl, 5 vol., 1899, p. 178. 



