SECRETARY'S REPORT. 145 



be absent, the others, although they may be present in sufficient 

 quantities, will not be used. As in animals, where the food 

 taken into the stomach is digested and formed into bone, muscle, 

 fat, hair, etc., so in the plant, the nutritiye portions must be 

 found in the earth (and the air) to be resolved into wood, bark, 

 grain, or some other necessary part. 



Disinlep;ration of the Soil. — The usefulness of all the ingre- 

 dients of plants originally found in the soil depends on their 

 exposure. If they are in the interior of particles which fibrous 

 roots cannot penetrate, they cannot be made use of until the 

 particles are pulverized, and their constituents exposed, in 

 order that they may be dissolved by the rains, and thus prepared 

 to be sucked up. Professor Hitchcock has shown by survey 

 and analysis of the soils of Massachusetts, that there are in 

 different sections of the State, nearly barren soils having the 

 same chemical composition (unpulverized) as some of the most 

 fertile soils in our country. The fertile soils leave their parti- 

 cles ^«e/// pulverized, and in consequence yield enormous crops. 



Use of Roots as Food for Animals. — We have shown in this 

 report and by reference to the authorities named below, that 

 animals, like plants, are made up of organic and inorganic 

 matter. In order therefore, that they may be perfectly devel- 

 oped and meet the reasonable expectations of those who rear and 

 feed them, they must receive as food all the materials required. 



The carrot, which contains pectic acid, in its nature closely 

 allied to the gums, is valuable for this reason above all others — 

 the acid gelatinizes food in the stomach, and thus renders it 

 more digestible. Gluten repairs the daily waste of the muscle 

 or lean part of the body. The gluten of plants is exactly the 

 same thing as the muscle of animals. For fattening, oil-cake, 

 or Indian meal can be fed with roots and coarse hay, or straw, 

 more profitably than in any other way. For product in milk, 

 feed turnips freely in addition to other food. For improvement 

 of quality in butter, feed carrots. 



Gathering and Storing- Roots. — Carrots should be gathered 

 before hard frosts occur. They begin to decay very soon if 

 frozen. Gather mangold wurtzel as soon as the tojis begin to 

 show the effect of cold. Ruta-bagas will continue to increase 

 in size (if tliey have been well fed) until the frost wilts down 



