May, 1921] 



BIENNIAL REPORT. 



15 



Six of the varieties were furnished by H. P. Winter & Co., representatives of 

 Sutton and Long of England. The other three varieties were purchased of 

 Ross Bros. The roots were planted May 21, 1920, but owing to unfavorable 

 weather a poor stand was secured, and all the plots were replanted June 7. 

 One plot, the Imperial Green Globe turnip, planted May 21, had a fairly good 

 stand and was allowed to remain. 



Varieties of Root Crops 1920. 



Plot 

 No. 



Yield 



per Acre 



in Tons 



1 



2 

 3 

 4 

 5 

 6 

 7 

 8 

 9 

 10 

 11 



Imperial Green Globe (planted May 21) 



Imperial Green Globe (planted June 7) 



Perfection Green-top Aberdeen 



Up-to-date Swede 



Magnum Bonum Swede 



Klein Wanzleben (Ross Bros.) 



Mammoth Long Red (Ross Bros.) 



Golden Tankard (Ross Bros.) 



Golden Tankard (Sutton) 



Prizewinner Mangold 



Long Island Improved Rutabaga 



Roots pulled and weighed, Nov. 1 



26.4 



21.3 



15.45 



18.45 



27.6 



11.0 



18.9 



15.3 



14.4 



13.8 



24.45 



Sunflower Silage. — As a preliminary test of sunflowers for silage, one-third 

 acre of the Giant Russian variety was planted in 1919. The seed was 

 planted at the same time as the ensilage corn, but a Mttle thicker. The sun- 

 flowers came along faster than the corn and seemed to withstand the dry 

 weather better. The earliest frost damaged the corn to some extent, but did 

 not injure the sunflowers. Thej' were cut September 23 and yielded 16K tons 

 per acre, which was above the average of the ensilage corn in the same field. 



The sunflowers were cut and put in the silo with corn below and above. 

 The silage was fed out in Januarj-, and it was noted that the cows, especially 

 those giving a heavy flow of milk, did not seem to relish it the first day or two, 

 but seemed to take more kindly to it later." A mixture of corn and sunflower 

 silage in the ratio of 2 to 1 seemed to make a good combination. A chemical 

 analysis of the silage just completed shows the following composition: Water, 

 81.3 per cent; Protein, 1.7 per cent; Fat, .8 per cent; Ash, 1.6 per cent; Crude 

 Fiber, 5.8 per cent; Nitrogen Free Extract, 8.8 per cent. 



About two acres of sunflowers were planted for silage in the spring of 1920. 

 They were planted thicker than the year before, with the idea of keeping the 

 stalks smaller in size. As a consequence, they grew to a height of 12 and 13 

 feet, with the stalks so small that many of them broke over and made harvest- 

 ing a slow and difficult process. The yield per acre was about 40 per cent 

 larger than that of corn planted on adjoining ground. 



While the value of sunflowers for ensilage in this state is stiU imdetermined 



