4 On the Composition of two varieties of 



Kohl-rabi may be of some interest to those who intend to grow 

 this crop. The bulbs were kindly supplied to me by Mr. Innes, 

 steward to Colonel North, who was a successful grower of Kohl- 

 rabi last year, and has formed a decidedly favourable opinion of 

 its practical feeding value. The varieties analysed by me ar% 

 known to seedsmen as the Qreen-top and Purple-top Kohl- 

 rabi. 



Composition of Green-top and Purple-top Kohl-Rabi. 

 a. General Composition. 



Green-top. Purple-top. 



Water .. .... .. 86-020 89-002 



Substances soluble in water 9-260) Dry matter 7'588\ Dry matter 

 Substances insoluble in water 4-720) 13-98 3-410J 10'998 



100-000 100-000 



b. Detailed Composition. 



Green-top. Purple-top. 



Water 86'020 89-002 



Oil ,,d3j '227 -177 



*Soluble protein compounds .. .. .. 2*056 2-006 



Sugar, gum, and pectin .. .. ., .. 6-007 4-486 



Salts soluble in water .... .. .. '970 -919 



f Insoluble protein compound .. .. . '300 -269 



Digestible fibre and insoluble pectinous "l o-993 1-896 



compounds., i. . ' ; / 



Woody fibre (cellulose) 1-230 1-106 



Insoluble mineral matters -197 -139 



100-000 100-000 



Containing nitrogen ',,}, M -329 -321 



t Containing nitrogen .. .'. .. .. -048 -043 



Total nitrogen .. -W -'.. .. -377 '364 



Percentage of ash .. .. 1-167 T058 



It must not be inferred from the preceding analytical results 

 that purple-top Kohl-rabi is necessarily more watery than the 

 green-top variety. My observations only apply to those bulbs 

 which I had an opportunity of examining. A series of de- 

 terminations of water in a larger number of bulbs of each 

 kind probably would have proved that the apparent superiority 

 of the green-top variety is not real, but due entirely to the acci- 

 dental occurrence of a smaller proportion of water in the root 

 which was submitted to me for analysis. 



It is well known that the proportion of water in roots drawn 

 from the same field and growing in close proximity to each other 

 varies much. All that can be said, therefore, is, that the par- 

 ticular specimen of the green-top variety which I analysed was 



