[104] 



Now the last item in this case shows curiously enough 

 the value of mixed food. Of the oil cake it requires 

 six pounds to produce one of flesh, and of peas it re- 

 quires eight pounds, yet mix the two together, and it only 

 takes four and a half pounds, or three-fourths of the quan- 

 tity when mixed. 



Turnips are more commonly raised for sheep food than 

 any other root crop, but it is the result only of habit, and 

 it is time the old rut should be abandoned and a new path 

 marked out. As said before, few of our Tennessee farmers 

 raise roots of any kind, but if once the habit of feeding 

 with roots was established they would never fail in it after- 

 wards. The large amount of water in roots prepares the 

 food in the best possible manner for digestion, especially 

 when a little meal is sprinkled over it. Of all roots, how- 

 ever, the sugar beet is preferable, as will be seen by the 

 table, which is univerally sanctioned by experience. It is 

 just as easily raised as the turnip, and is much easier kept. 

 Sheep are very fond of it too, and will greedily devour 

 every particle of it. The crop properly cultivated will yield 

 from 600 to 1,000 bushels per acre. 



They should be planted as soon as the soil can be put in 

 proper condition in the spring. The ground requires the 

 same preparation as to thorough tilth as for turnips, and 

 should be mellow and well manured. After proper prepa- 

 tion it should be thrown up into ridges with a turning plow, 

 and if possible planted with a seed-drill, which will distrib- 

 ute the seeds far more equally than can be done by hand, as 

 from the rough nature of the seed it is difficult to sow it 

 by hand sowing. Should the crop come up unequal- 

 ly, they can be easily thinned out and re-set, doing just 

 as well as if coming up from seed. The transplanting 

 should take place after a rain, when the ground is thor- 

 oughly wet, and while very young. Wring off the most of 

 the tops before planting, and every one will live. Leave 

 them about eight inches apart in the furrow, and they will 



