PRICKLY COMFREY \S A FORAGE CROP." 
INTRODUCTION 
Prickly comfrey {Symphytum asperrimum Donn) is a perennial 
herbaceous plant, a native of the Caucasus region of Europe, which 
was introduced into England as early as 1801. Apparently it was 
first grow n in the United States near Richmond, Va., in I s 7 ( ; . The 
only recorded importation of this plant by the Department of Agri- 
culture was made in February, 1899, from France, in L830 it 
attracted attention in England as a forage plant, and from thai date 
until 1876 or later some little interesi was exhibited in its dissemina- 
tion by agriculturists. Thomas Christy, jr., of London, was especially 
prominent in it's advertisement and published a lengthy article 6 
descriptive of its value as a food for hogs, sheep, and dairy cows, 
especially as a soiling crop and in the form of ensilage. 
Although prickh comfrej was grown rather extensively years ago 
in Europe and to some extent in the United States, it has never 
attained any considerable importance in either country as a forage 
crop. At the present time it is probably grown more generally in 
Germany than in an\ other country, and its success there may be 
ascribed to the intensive methods of cultivation employed on small 
farms, a practice which calls for some crop that will re-pond with 
\ ields to heavy applical ions of fertilizer. Only under such meth- 
ods can the yields of forage mentioned in reports from Germany be 
expected. None of the government experiment stations in European 
countries have seen lit to commend prickly comfrey in their reports 
-" far as noted. 
f Prickly comfrey has been grown a- a forage crop to .-nine extent in Europe, and in 
scattered instances with success in this country, Its general standing, however, lias 
not seemed to warrant an extended trial by the Department of Agriculture. Recently 
advertisements making exaggerated claims regarding its value as a forage crop 
have appeared in newspapers ami circulars, it is therefore deemed advisable to pub- 
lish in a concise form the results of tesis of this crop at several state experiment sta 
1 ions, together with a brief description of tin- plant ami directions for its culture. This 
will enable intending growers to draw their own conclusions as to its probable value 
for their purposes. I'. T Galloway, Chiefo/Bu 
^Christy, Thomas, jr. Forage Plants and Their Economic Conservation li 
New System of "Ensilage," Part 1. London, is;;. 
[Cli 
