132 DESCRIPTION OF FEEDING STUFFS 



The figures in the table show that larger gross yields were 

 obtained in the case of all roots, except sugar beets, than of corn; 

 on the average for all four root crops, nearly 17 tons were harvested 

 per acre, against 16 tons of fodder corn. The amounts of dry 

 matter harvested in these crops were, however, 3792 pounds in 

 roots and 5757 pounds in the corn, a difference of 52 per cent in 

 favor of the latter crop. The roots have a somewhat higher digesti- 

 bility than fodder corn. If we assume that the dry matter in 

 the former crops is 87 per cent digestible, on the average, and 

 that of the fodder corn 70 per cent digestible, we find that there is 

 a difference of 22 per cent in the yield of digestible matter obtained 

 per acre in favor of the fodder corn. It is fair to suppose that both 

 kinds of crops were grown under as favorable conditions as the 

 season would permit in these experiments, and we may, therefore, 

 conclude that fodder corn will produce, on the average, about one- 

 half more dry matter and over one-fifth more digestible matter per 

 acre than root crops under conditions similar to those which pre- 

 vailed in these experiments. 



While accurate information as regards the cost of raising roots 

 and fodder com is limited, it seems evident, from the accounts pub- 

 lished by different stations, that it will cost at least twice as much 

 to grow, harvest, and store a ton of roots as to grow and put a ton 

 of Indian corn in the silo. When calculated on a basis of the cost 

 of total dry substance or digestible matter in the two crops, the 

 comparison, therefore, comes out still more unfavorably for root 

 crops. Both in point of the actual yields secured and the expense 

 of growing, roots are, in general, less desirable crops to raise than 

 Indian corn wherever the conditions are favorable for the culture 

 of the latter crop. 



In view of the facts stated, it is not surprising that root crops 

 are grown to only a relatively small extent for feeding purposes in 

 this country, and no system of farm management can be safely 

 advocated that would give prominence to the growing of root crops 

 by American farmers as a general proposition. There are, how- 

 ever, conditions where it may be advisable to grow roots to a much 

 larger extent than is now done, outside of the culture of sugar beets 

 for the sake of sugar production; this is a different proposition 

 from the growing of roots for stock feeding, and is not considered in 

 the present discussion. The more important ones of these conditions 

 are discussed in the following paragraphs. 



Value of Roots. Root crops are especially valuable as appe- 

 tizers, for exhibition animals, and for dairy cows that are being 



