198 Feeds and Feeding. 



only fair returns, yet their common use on many southern farms 

 warrants the conclusion that pigs can gather this crop with profit. 

 (877) Conner of the Florida Station^ found that sweet potatoes 

 can be successfully substituted for half the corn in the ration of 

 work horses, 3 lbs. of sweet potatoes replacing 1 lb. of corn. Scott 

 of the same station^ found that for dairy cows 100 lbs. of sweet 

 potatoes was as useful as 150 lbs. of corn silage. While more val- 

 uable, sweet potatoes were also far more expensive to produce than 

 the corn silage. (565, 877) 



289. Cassava, Manihot utilissima. — This plant, resembling the 

 castor bean in leafage, grows in Florida and along the Gulf Coast. 

 Cassava roots, which are fleshy like those of the sweet potato, yield 

 from 5 to 6 tons per acre, carrying from 25 to 30 per ct. of starch. 

 They are used for the manufacture of starch and for cattle and 

 swine feeding. At Muscogee, Alabama,^ 200 steers and 100 hogs 

 were fattened by using 1600 lbs. of cassava roots daily in place of 

 grain. The roots appear to be about as useful as corn for swine 

 feeding, and, because of the heavy yield, this plant is full of prom- 

 ise to stockmen in the far South. The cassava waste of starch fac- 

 tories should be dried for feeding. (565) 



290. Chufa, Cyperus esculentus. — The chufa sedge, frequently a 

 weed on southern farms, produces numerous small edible tubers 

 which are relished by pigs. Chufas grow best on light sandy soils, 

 yielding from 100 to 150 bushels per acre. Like artichokes they re- 

 main in the ground uninjured thru the winter. Duggar of the 

 Alabama Station* hurdled young pigs on a chufa field, giving them 

 com and cowpea meal additional. The average of 2 trials showed 

 that, after due allowance was made for the grain fed, the chufas 

 produced pork at the rate of 307 lbs., worth over $15, per acre. (879) 



291. Peanuts, Arachis hypogaea. — The yield of peanuts runs from 

 40 to 100 bushels per acre. Duggar of the Alabama Station'^ has 

 carefully studied the possibilities of the peanut for pork production. 

 In one trial pigs turned into a peanut field made 100 lbs. of gain 

 from 190 lbs. of corn and 140 lbs. of peanuts, together with the 

 vines. The yield in this case was estimated at 63 bushels per acre. 

 The pork returned over $18 per acre against $10 or $12 from the 

 same area planted to cotton. Duggar reports various trials in 

 which peanuts returned from 225 to 432 lbs. of pork per acre when 

 fed in combination with corn, skim milk, etc., allowance being made 



1 Bui. 72. ' U. S. Dept. Agr., Farmers ' Bui. 167. " Buls. 93, 122. 



= Bui. 101. ■'Bui. 122. 



