ROOTS, TUBERS, AND OTHER SUCCULENT FEEDS 133 
fed heavy rations ‘with a view to securing a maximum production 
of milk. For these purposes no crops are equally valuable to 
farmers and breeders. . Roots are also grown to advantage where 
Indian corn will not do well on account of climatic and other 
conditions. They grow best in a cool and moist climate. This 
may be inferred from the fact that they are important crops in 
European countries, especially Great Britain, where the growing 
of turnips is a distinctive feature of farming and figures largely 
in the. making of the fine quality of mutton and beef produced 
there. Also in Denmark, a highly specialized dairy ‘country, the 
growing of roots, especially mangels and rutabagas, is largely 
practised, and their culture has increased in a marked manner 
during the present century, because the dairy farmers have found 
it advantageous on agricultural and economic grounds. 
Roots are, in geieral, characterized by a high digestibility and | 
palatability. They contain large proportions of water, as has been 
shown, viz., 70 to 90 per cent, and only small amounts of both fat 
and fiber. The protein is also low, and about 40 per cent thereof 
is in non-protein | form. The nitrogen-free extract, on the other 
hand, is relatively high and consists largely of soluble carbohydrates. 
The root crops are, therefore, especially valuable sources of carbo- 
hydrates. They are greatly relished by stock and have a favorable 
influence on their digestion and general health. The only exception 
is that care is necessary in case of feeding root crops (mangels and 
sugar beets) to breeding rams and perhaps also to ewes and cattle, 
on account of the possibility of formation of kidney and bladder 
stones. There is no danger in this respect in the case of fattening 
animals, according to the Iowa station.* 
The main root crops used for feeding farm animals in this 
country are mangels, rutabagas, turnips, sugar beets, and carrots. 
Cabbage, rape, and kale-belong to the same botanical genus as tur- 
nips and rutabagas (brassica), of the mustard family (Latin name, 
crucifere), and parsnips belong to the carrot family (umbejlifere). 
These crops will now briefly be considered. 
Mangels are also called mangel-wurzels or field beets (Beta 
vulgaris, Fig. 22). Like root crops in general, mangels have a 
high feeding value for the amount of dry matter they contain, 
which is less than that of any other root crop, viz., 9 per cent on 
the average. There is considerable difference in different varieties 
in this respect, the average dry matter contents of these ranging 
between 6 and 16 per cent. The average digestion coefficients for 
4 Bulletin 112; Farmers’ Bulletin 465. 
