COMMITTEE ON ROOT CULTURE. 139 



oats were used along with the tnrnips. the profit was 

 diminished to eight and a half per cent. ; but when 

 still more expensive food was tried — that is, grain 

 and linseed cake, along with tnrnips and potatoes — 

 a loss was sustained of no less than 12 3.16 per cent." 

 Lot 1 were the largest oxen. They were fed each 

 with 132 lbs. per day of Swedish turnips. Lot 2 were 

 fed each with 120 lbs. of the same per day ; and lot 

 3, being the smallest, received but 115 lbs. per day; 

 and, for twenty-four days, but ninety-two pounds. 



Lot 1 cost 4.484 pence for every lb. of increased live weight. 



Lot 2 " 3.92 



Lots " 3.39 " " " 



The turnips were estimated at four pence per cwt. ; 

 the potatoes at Is. 6d. per cwt. ; oats and beans at 3s. 

 6d. per bushel ; and linseed cake at three fourths of 

 a penny per pound. 



" In conclusion," says Mr. Stevenson, on this part of 

 the subject, '' we give it as our opinion, that whoever 

 feeds cattle on turnips alone, will have no reason, on the 

 score of profit, to regret their not having employed more 

 expensive auxiliaries to hasten the fattening process." 



It would seem pretty evident, from the foregoing 

 experiments, that ruta baga and mangold-wurtzel are 

 the best root crops for feeding cattle. The profit of 

 cultivating and feeding these roots will be more mani- 

 fest if we compare their acreable product with that of 

 hay, potatoes, and the coarse grains which we feed to 

 fattening animals. To enable the committee to make 

 this comparison, they assume the following as the 

 average products of crops, and attach to each of these 

 an estimate of their marketable value. Both the prod- 

 uct and the prices will greatly vary ; but those as- 

 sumed are deemed sufficiently correct for comparison. 



