522 
On the Kohl-Rabi. 
Chemistry of the Kohl-Eabi. 
Mr, George Sinclair, in 1824, gave the result of his inves^ 
ligations into the nutritive value of the Kohl-Rabi,* as obtained 
by chemical analysis, in comparison with other field-crops. He 
arrived at his conclusions in this manner : From Arthur Young's 
' Annals' and the Agricultural Surveys of the different counties, 
published under the authority of the Board of Agriculture, he 
obtained his data for estimating the average tonnage per acre of 
the different crops. Under Sir Humphry Davy's instructions, 
he worked out an analysis of a single pound weight of each 
variety, giving the amount of nutritive matter therein in grains ; 
and this quantity, multiplied by the number of pounds in the 
tonnage per acre, gave his results. For instance, Kohl-Rabi was 
estimated to yield 14 tons per acre, or 31,360 lbs. A single 
pound of it yielded 420 grains of nutritive matters ; this quan- 
tity, multiplied by the number of pounds per acre, yielded 
precisely 1881 lbs. The crops analyzed by him were man- 
gold-wurtzel, carrots, potatoes, white turnips, Swedish turnips, 
cabbages, and Kohl-Rabi. The following table, arranged in the 
order of the production of nutritive matter per acre, will show 
the position occupied by Kohl-Rabi in these ingenious, though 
practically useless, investigations. 
Number of 
Grains of 
Nutritive 
Matter 
in 1 lb. 
Average 
Weight 
of 
Crop per 
Acre. 
Weight 
in lbs. 
per Acre. 
Wei^t 
of 
Nutritive 
Matter 
per Acre. 
Proportions in 
which they 
stand to each 
other with 
respect to the 
Weight of 
Nutritive Matter 
per Acre. 
Proportions 
which the 
Crops bear to 
each other 
in respect to 
Weight of 
Produce. 
grains. 
tons. 
lbs. 
lbs. 
Potatoes . . . . 
1000 
15 
33,600 
4800 
63 
15 
Cabbages . . . . 
430 
25 
56,000 
3440 
42 
25 
Mangold-wurtzel 
390 
25 
56,000 
3120 
28 
25 
750 
11 
24,640 
2640 
24 
11 
Kohl-Rabi .. .. 
420 
14 
31,360 
1881 
17 
14 
Swedish Turnips 
440 
13 
29,120 
1830 
16 
13 
White Turnips 
320 
16 
35,840 
1638 
14 
16 
The researches of Way and Ogston, published in this Journal: 
of Professor Johnston; his assistant, Mr. F"romberg ; of Dr. 
Voelcker and Professor Anderson, have put the relative nutritive 
properties of these crops in a correct light, and show the incor- 
rectness of Sinclair's conclusions. The table, therefore, may be 
regarded as a curiosity merely, and as the first result of a search 
after truth. 
* ' Hortus Gramineus Woburnensis.' London : James Kidgway. 
