586 FORAGE PLANTS AND THEIR CULTURE 



vulgaris), rutabaga (Brassica campestris), turnip (Brassica 

 rapa), carrot (Daucus carota) and parsnip (Pastinaca 

 saliva). These are all cultivated as vegetables; their 

 culture on a large scale is by essentially the same methods. 

 All of these root crops are best adapted to regions with a 

 cool growing season, and hence their culture is most impor- 

 tant northward. Southward the mangel and the turnip 

 are grown more successfully than the others. 



All of these root crops require a fertile, loamy soil to 

 secure the largest yields. They are nearly always grown 

 in rows wide enough to permit of easy cultivation. The 

 culture of most of them, however, involves considerable 

 hand labor, especially in thinning the rows. 



700. Comparison of various root crops. Inasmuch 

 as mangels, sugar beets, rutabagas, turnips, carrots and 

 parsnips are all adapted to very closely the same conditions, 

 the problem arises as to which is to be preferred. In 

 Great Britain more than 3 times as many rutabagas are 

 grown as mangels, while in Germany, the reverse is the 

 case. In Canada the acreage of mangels in 1910 was 

 53,576 against 76,488 for rutabagas and turnips. 



In feeding value these. roots apparently stand in the 

 following order, sugar beets highest, followed by parsnips, 

 mangels, rutabagas, carrots, turnips, but the differences 

 are small. 



The yields of mangels and rutabagas are decidedly 

 greater than other roots, so the latter are grown more for 

 special purposes or for variety. At the Ontario Agri- 

 cultural College, the average yields to the acre for 26 years 

 have been 27,600 pounds mangels, 25,740 pounds ruta- 

 bagas and 20,760 pounds carrots. The yields at five 

 different stations are compiled in the accompanying 

 table: 



