Convention—Boot Crops for the farm. 
233 
results of my own experience, with no attempt to compare methods 
with others, yet I could easily be persuaded that there are methods 
which would give results superior to my own. 
In our convention a year ago, the subject was incidentally 
brought up, and challenged a degree of interest, which led me to 
believe that it might, with propriety, be more formally introduced 
to the notice of this meeting. 
My first crop of roots were raised and used solely as adjuncts to 
other feed crops. 
They filled the place of bran, which I was accustomed to buy at 
the mill, in so satisfactory a manner, that I continued extending the 
area devoted to them, until a year ago, 1 found myself in possession 
of 1,200 bushels or more of them, and with my corn entirely cut off 
by an August frost. 
I had hogs both to fatten and to winter. I cooked the roots 
freely for those I fattened. They grew rapidly, and with some 
meal towards the last, they made very good pork. The pigs that I 
wintered were fed entirely on uncooked roots, giving them not so 
much as an ear of corn, or its equivalent, for more than a year. I 
only hoped that they might survive on starvation rations just like a 
shipwrecked crew, but to my surprise, I kept them growing and in 
good condition until grass came in the spring. 
My chief regret since has been, that I had so little faith in them, 
for I might as well have wintered such numbers that they would 
have been a great help to me this fall. I fed them freely to my cows 
and horses with very satisfactory results. I am now wintering hogs 
on a daily feed of roots and one of corn. I shall greatly extend my 
acreage of roots the coming season. 
I find that they are greedily eaten by all kinds of stock, even 
when fed heavily with grain. Fattening hogs will eat of them at 
every meal, even though the floor is covered with the best of corn. 
Horses will perform ordinary labor on a diet of roots, and show by 
their sleek condition that they are on satisfactory rations. 
The only drawback lies in storing and handling a sufficient quan¬ 
tity of them, for they are bulky and heavy, and must be protected 
from frost. A convenient arrangement for this purpose is an abso¬ 
lute necessity; without it, a man can do little more, profitably, than 
to raise enough for the health of his stock, and this many he should 
by no means be without. 
