IS2 



EXPERIMENTS WITH ROOTS AND FORAGE CROPS 



The root crops are so largely composed of water that one 

 gets a very vague idea of the real dry matter from the total 



weight per acre. In order 

 that this may be compared 

 with the dry matter of ensi- 

 lage, which is usually esti- 

 mated as being one-fourth, 

 or 25 per cent., I have 

 computed the accompany- 

 ing table. Besides giving 

 the total dry matter, it also 

 contains the digestible dry 

 matter. These computa- 

 tions are based upon the 

 chemical analyses of the 

 Maine Station, which it is 

 thought answer equally well 

 for our conditions. 



y^erusalem Artichoke. — 

 This plant is grown for the 

 fleshy tubers which form 

 about the roots just be- 

 neath the surface of the 

 soil. They are the only 

 parts used for propagation 

 and in this respect the 

 plant resembles the potato. 

 They are very irregular in 

 outline, being about 2^ 

 inches long and half as 

 thick, usually tapering at 

 both ends. The eyes un- 

 like those of the potato 



Fig. 14.— Jerusalem Artichoke. Height 5 feet. 



protrude, producmg more 

 or less of a knobby appearance. The roots or tubers are cut to 

 single eye cuttings, and planted usually in rows three feet apart 

 and two feet apart in the row. Three bushels of roots are 



