16 BULLETIN 68, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



Boot crops. — The mangel- wurz els, haK-sugar beet, sugar beet, and 

 white French sugar beet are all used for hog feed. Beets may be 

 stored either in pits or in bins in the barn, or fed from the field. Occa- 

 sionally there is some loss from freezing if left in the field all wonter. 

 Usually, on the other hand, there is much to be gained by feeding 

 from the field, because (1) beets make considerable growth durmg 

 the late fall and winter, much of which is lost if they are stored; (2) 

 when fed from the field the tops are utilized the same as the roots; 

 and (3) it is much cheaper to feed from the field than to store them 

 first and feed them later. Beets are fed whole. 



Articliolces. — Artichokes are planted m rows and cultivated in 

 precisely the same maimer that potatoes are grown. The tubers are 

 cut into rather small pieces and planted a httle thicker and a little 

 earHer than potatoes. 



Artichokes are utilized by turning the hogs into the field in the fall 

 after the tubers have made their growth. If the hogs have been 

 ringed, the ground is loosened up with a plow, enough tubers being 

 plowed out at a time to last a week. 



The soil best adapted to the growth of artichokes for hogs is the 

 sandy land along the watercourses. They can be hogged off on such 

 land without seriously injuring the soil during the entire winter. The 

 heavier soils are frequenth^ badly puddled by the trampmg of the 

 hogs during wet weather. This can be counteracted by liberally 

 applying coarse fresh manure or straw just before the hogs are turned 

 into the field in the fall. By manuring heavily and working the 

 groimd early m the spring, artichokes may be gro^vn on the same 

 land for several years. They are sometimes allowed to volunteer, 

 the land being plowed, worked do^\^l, and the crop permitted to come 

 from the tubers left hi the soil. This is not good practice, however, 

 it being much more profitable to plant them in rows, so that they can 

 be cultivated. A crop of artichokes that is ready for the hogs is 

 sho"wn in figure 6. 



Objection is sometimes made to artichokes on account of the diffi- 

 culty of getting rid of them when it is desirable to grow some other 

 crop on the land. They may be eradicated by sowing the land to 

 clover, clover and rape, or clover and oats, and pasturing wiih. sheep 

 or cattle during the summer. If no stems and leaves are allowed 

 to grow, no tubers will form. Close pasturing for one season will 

 eliminate artichokes. 



CROPS FOR THE WHEAT BELT. 



The wheat belt of eastern Oregon, eastern Washington, and north- 

 ern Idaho presents a great variety of agricultural conditions. The 

 elevation above sea level varies from 1,000 to as much as 3,000 feet. 

 The annual precipitation also varies from approximately 10 inches 

 to 25 inches. In some of the more arid districts where the altitude 



