ROOT CULTURE. 101 



820 00 

 30 00 

 11 25 

 15 00 

 37 50 

 150 00 

 150 00 



Estimating the cost of tho roots, in labour, at 

 twenty dollars an acre more than that of the hay, 

 oats, and buckwheat, it still leaves a great disparity 

 in the profits ; and considering the cost of culture 

 equal to that of Indian corn, there is a manifest ad- 

 vantage in the turnips and mangold-wurzel over the 

 corn-crop as a material for cattle food. Good beef 

 cannot be made on hay alone in winter: and those 

 who do not feed roots must resort to some more ex- 

 pensive food, as the meal of Indian corn, oats, buck- 

 wheat, &c. The turnips and mangold-wurzel, on 

 the contrary, with the aid of perhaps a little straw, 

 will serve- of themselves to feed and fatten animals. 

 In this matter the chairman can speak from expe- 

 rience. He purchased four oxen a little before 

 Christmas, and kept them till some time in April ; 

 after a short time, they ate each two bushels a day 

 of ruta-baga : they would eat very little else, though 

 laid before them, not even linseed-cake. They 

 made good beef, and afforded a handsome profit on 

 the turnips consumed. 



If we now assume that an ox will require a quar- 

 ter of a hundred of hay per diem to keep him in good 

 condition, and that it will require an addition of four 

 quarts of corn meal, or eight quarts of crushed oats 

 or buckwheat per diem to fatten him; and if we 

 consider 112 pounds, or two bushels of roots, equiva- 

 lent to a ration of hay and grain, then the several 

 crops will feed an animal as below. 



One acre of grass and half an acre of corn will feed 160 days. 



One and a half acres of mangold-wurzel or Swe- 

 dish turnips will feed .... 450 days. 



One acre of grass and one acre of oats or buckwheat 

 will feed . .... 160 days. 



