r 
2 
scientific methods which disclose with mathematical 
precision the degree of keeping qualities, and the 
proportion of food values contained in the different 
stocks of roots upon which we have experimented, 
we have proved to demonstration the significant difference 
between leaving nature unaided to satisfy the wants of the 
farmer, and in helping her to develop and produce the greatest 
amount of feeding stuff which her resources can be made to 
yield up. 
Nature, aided by science on the lines of practical ex- 
perience and observation, has therefore been our watchword in 
these experiments, and we now make public for the first time our 
object and aims. 
We would remind our readers, however, at the 
outset, of what has been done in connection with field 
root culture in the century just closed— a work in which 
we have taken a considerable share. As a matter of fact the 
improvement of Mangels, Swedes, and Turnips upon given prin- 
ciples has been the object of our assiduous attention for many 
years. By studying the effect of high cultivation, of the applica- 
tion of suitable manures, of different compounds of different soils, 
and of other factors which enable man to stimulate the forces of 
nature, we have been able to introduce from time to time 
improved stocks of all these feeding roots. Our previous 
methods of improving, by these means, the position of the root 
grower, have been to select for stock purposes those roots which 
were conspicuous by reason of their large size, heavy weight, 
good shape, fine texture, and general attractive appearance in 
bulb, neck, and top. The handsome and, indeed, colossal roots 
which are now year by year exhibited afford sufficient testimony 
as to what has been achieved in the enormous increase in weight 
of roots, acre for acre. Weight and size, however, are not the 
all in all ; they are only the means to an end, which should be to 
increase nutritive properties and hence feeding values. 
Chemical analysis in the interests and service of 
agriculture has been a remarkable feature of the 
nineteenth century. So far as root crops are concerned, 
however, it has been mainly directed to promote the production, by 
artificial stimulus, of greater volume and weight per acre. Before 
agricultural chemistry came to the front and proved what science 
could do for the farmer, men lived under the belief that nature 
could work her own course, and even, if necessary, by some magic 
means, transform mineral elements into organic food, and no 
regard was paid to the composition of plants, of soil, or of 
manures. Things are different to-day. It can be safely said, 
that among the many valuable contributions which the science 
of chemistry has made to the advancement of practical every-day 
agriculture, the investigation of the comparative feeding values 
of different substances commonly employed by stock-breeders and 
farmers generally stands out most conspicuously, but the definite 
information which has been obtained by means of these investi- 
gations has been only partially applied. Artificial manures and 
feeding stuffs have engaged much attention, but the organic 
powers of the roots themselves, and the feeding values they yield 
or might yield, have not received the attention their importance 
demands. It is to remedy this we have been carrying out our 
investigations, and shall continue to do so, firmly convinced as we 
CARTERS', 237, 238, & 97, HIGH HOLBORN, LONDON.— 1901. 
are from practical experience, that it is possible to superinduce 
upon roots habits of assimilating and accumulating more nutritive 
elements than has obtained in the past. 
Happily, one of the results of the application of science has 
also been that a more precise and exact habit of thought and 
calculation has been acquired by people who formerly were 
contented to accept loose statements and rough estimates regard- 
ing matters of agriculture. These have given place to minute 
and precise experiments, and we confidently anticipate that the 
benefits which are to be derived from a pursuance of this 
method of procedure in the special work of improving the food- 
yielding power of roots of all sorts, will be appreciated at their 
full value. 
WATER. 
It is, of course, a recognised fact amongst agri- 
culturists who have gone into the matter at all, 
although it may come as a surprise to those who 
have not hitherto given the question any thought, that 
Mangels, Swedes, Turnips, and all similar feeding roots 
contain among their various constituent parts a large 
amount of water, and that this water does not con- 
tribute in the slightest degree to the flesh-forming 
capacity of the roots. The essence of our enterprise has been 
to stimulate nature, to increase the percentage of food constituents, 
and incidentally to diminish in the same proportion the valueless 
water. Many farmers who quite understand the subject take 
up the sound position that the proper quantity of Turnips 
for an animal to eat is as near as can be calculated just that 
amount which will satisfy its desire for water ; and seeing that 
the moisture in Turnips in their natural state is far below the 
temperature of the blood of the animal, the heat of the body is 
reduced by consumption of the Turnip, instead of being sustained 
by it, so that it is possible, in the case of the poorest Turnips, that 
an actual loss accrues to the animal economy when a quantity is 
consumed more than sufficient to satisfy the natural requirement 
for water. A most important fact is, therefore, overlooked, when 
it is ignored that the value of a crop depends, not upon the gross 
weight per acre of the roots, but upon the net amount of nutritive 
ingredients they contain. If, as is sometimes the case, a field of 
roots of enormous size is found to consist of big, watery, tasteless 
roots, the fact speaks for itself that, if this size and weight be pro- 
duced at the expense of the nutriment the roots contain, better were 
it for the stock-feeder that he should grow roots, not only sound, 
solid, and crisp, but also sugary, juicy, and digestible ; and where 
these qualities can be combined with a hardy constitution, resisting 
to a maximum degree the elements of disease, decay, and decom- 
position, the ideal root is obtained. To this end our efforts have 
been and are now directed. 
The presence of valueless water, although to the 
largest degree in Turnips, extends to all root crops. 
In estimating their nutritive value, water counts as 
nothing, and, indeed, where it exceeds a certain 
percentage it is even possibly harmful, and the sole 
value is contained in the solids or dry matter of the 
root, which are made accessible for calculating purposes by a 
process of extracting the water. These solids differentiate in their 
i 
