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MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE. 



Compositon of Mangold Wurzel. — Dr. Yoelcker, in his very 

 valuable and recently published work, " The Chemistry of 

 Food," (p. 28,) says: "Mangolds have been analyzed by Pro- 

 fessors Way, Johnston, Wolff, and myself; but as it will be of 

 no practical utility to mention these various analyses in detail, 

 I shall leave them unnoticed, and state at once the average com- 

 position of good mangold wurzel, which has been calculated 

 from thirteen published analyses of this root : — 



Caculated Dry. 



Water, .... 

 Flesh-forming Constituents, 

 Woody Fibre, . 

 Sugar, .... 

 Pectin, Gum, &c.. 

 Inorganic matters, (ash,) . 



" Mangolds, it will be observed, contain on an average as 

 much water and dry matters as carrots, and on the whole, are 

 almost as nutritious as carrots, if they are given to fattening 



beasts after a few months' keeping The superior 



fattening value of stored mangolds, when compared with the 

 fresh root, may be due to the absence of this acrid principle in 

 old roots, but doubtless it must be attributed also to the larger 

 amount of sugar which stored mangolds contain. An examina- 

 tion of fresh and old mangolds, has shown me that, on keeping, 

 the pectin in the fresh roots is gradually formed into sugar. 



