On the Composition and Nutritive Propervies of Swedes, fyc. 157 
over a drain to receive the droppings both liquid and solid, in 
the case of cows and heifers ; but, of course, only the latter when 
bulls and oxen are tied up. 
Littering requirements need not then stand much in the way of 
*he utilisation of straw for feeding stock, which appears to be 
employed for that purpose much more in certain parts of the 
Continent than in this country. If the farmer requires more 
than ever to husband his resources to make his business re- 
munerative, he can scarcely afford to neglect any longer this 
hitherto despised material, whose natural outcome, when rightly 
employed in conjunction with oilcake and other auxiliary feed- 
ing stuffs, is an increase of herds and flocks, and a more extended 
development of agricultural wealth. 
The language of Sir John Sinclair, in his ' Code of Agricul- 
ture,' may still be employed, and with it I close this paper. 
He says : " The substance of straw is of greater importance than 
is commonly imagined, and the nature of that article taken in 
the aggregate entitles it to more attention than has hitherto been 
bestowed upon it. Farmers are apt to consider it as of little or 
no worth, because it is not usually saleable, and is rarely esti- 
mated separately from the yearly produce of the soil ; but it has 
an intrinsic value as a fund for manure and a means of feeding 
stock." 
IV. — On the Composition and Nutritive Properties of Swedes, and 
Experiments on the Keeping Qualities of Roots. By Dr. Augustus' 
VoELCKER, F.R.S., Consulting Chemist to the Society. 
It is to be feared that farmers, in their anxiety to grow heavy 
crops of swedes, often lose sight of the great differences, in 
feeding and keeping qualities, between healthily developed roots, 
and large, watery, imperfectly ripened bulbs. It is perfectly 
well known to stock-feeders, that a ton of sound, solid, juicy, 
sweet-tasting swedes is worth a great deal more for feeding and 
fattening purposes than the same weight of watery, big, and 
comparatively tasteless roots. And yet, much thought is seldom 
given to a consideration of the conditions which are favourable, 
or the reverse, to the production of sound nutritious roots of good 
keeping quality. In too many instances, quality is sacrificed 
to quantity. 
White turnips not unfrequently contain from 92 to 93 per 
cent, of water, and even in swedes and mangolds I have found 
occasionally as much; whereas, good fully matured swedes or 
