454 



ROOT CROPS 



Harvesting. Mangel beets can be pulled by hand, but sugar 

 beets, being deeper in the soil, are more difficult to pull and are 

 usually lifted with a beet puller. The tops are twisted off when beets 

 are stored for stock feed, but in the case of sugar beets for the factory 

 the crown' is cut off. Beets can be kept in a cool cellar for three to 

 four months, but they do not keep as well as turnips. 



Yields. Sugar beets usu- 

 ally yield from eight to fif- 

 teen tons per acre and mangels 

 fifteen to thirty tons. Ruta- 

 baga is the only other root 

 crop yielding' as heavily as 

 mangels. The yield of dry 

 matter is from two to three 

 tons per acre. 



Feeding Value. The dry 

 matter of beets is considered 

 to be pound for pound equal to 

 grain. The succulence of beets 

 also is valuable to animals on 

 dry feed, especially dairy cows. 

 Beets when first harvested 

 have a very laxative effect, 

 which, however, disappears when kept in storage for two months. 

 Before feeding, beets are cut by hand or with a beet slicer. 



Fia. 194. Kohl-rabi, belonging to cabbage 

 family, but in this case the stem is enlarged, 

 not the root as in turnips. 



TURNIPS 



On the west and south coast of England and continental Europe 

 is found a wild broad-leaved plant somewhat resembling a loose 

 cabbage plant without a head, and known to botanists as Brassica 

 oleracece. This plant under cultivation has shown remarkable vari- 

 ation, giving rise to a large number of cultivated plants. All parts of 

 the plant have been modified, the leaves in cabbage, the flowers in 

 cauliflower, the axillary buds in brussels sprouts, the stem in kohl- 

 rabi (Fig. 194), and the root in rutabagas (Fig. 195) and turnips. 



