RURAL ECONOMY.
Boussingault in his “Rural Economy,” pp. 159-160 says: “The Jerusalem Artichoke rises to a hight of from nine to ten feet; it flowers late, and I have not yet seen it ripen its seeds. It is propagated by the tubers which it produces, and which are regarded, for good reason, a most excellent food for cattle.... There are few plants more hardy and so little nice about the soil as the Jerusalem Artichoke; it succeeds everywhere with the single condition that the ground be not wet.... Of all the plants that engage the husbandman, the Jerusalem Artichoke is that which produces the most at the least expense of manure and manual labor. Kade states that a square patch of Jerusalem Artichokes in a garden was still in full productive vigor at the end of thirty-three years, throwing out stems from seven to ten feet in length, although for a very long time the plant had neither received any care or any manure. I could quote many examples of the great reproductive power of the Helianthus; I can affirm, nevertheless, that in order to obtain abundant crops, it is necessary to afford a little manure.... Schwertz estimates the mean quantity of dry leaves and stems at three tons, one cwt., one quarter and fifteen pounds per acre.”
Again, p. 401—“Experiment with horses.—Jerusalem potatoes are held excellent food for the horse; they are eaten greedily, and he thrives on them. In this second experiment 30.8 pounds of Jerusalems cut into slices were substituted for eleven pounds of hay, the same theoretical equivalents being assumed for them as for the common potato. The ration now consisted of hay, eleven pounds; straw, five and a half pounds; oats, seven and a half pounds, and Jerusalem potatoes, 30.8 pounds. Having been accustomed to this regimen for some days, the teams were weighed, and having gone on for eleven days, they were weighed again:
| Team No. 1. | No. 2. | Both Teams. | Mean per horse. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| In eleven days, | gain 55 | loss 33 | gain 22 | gain .9 |
“A result which leads to the conclusion that the equivalent assumed for the Jerusalem potato was correct; the animals had done their work, and gained one with another nine-tenths of a pound in weight.”
Again, p. 406.—“One hundred pounds of good meadow-hay may be taken, as ascertained by experiment, to be equivalent to
| 280 | of Potatoes, | by analysis | equal to | 315 |
| 280 | of Jerusalems, | ” | ” | 311 |
| 400 | of Beets, | ” | ” | 548 |
| 400 | of Swedes (too little), | ” | ” | 676 |
| 400 | of Carrots, | ” | ” | 382 |
Again, p. 415.—“One thousand parts (by weight) of the forage gathered at Bechelbroun in its ordinary state contained:
| Mineral Substances. | Azote. | Phos. Acid. | Lime. | Bone Earth. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Potatoes, | 9.64 | 3.70 | 1.09 | .17 | .33 |
| Beet, | 7.70 | 2.10 | .46 | .54 | .95 |
| Turnip, | 5.70 | 1.30 | .35 | .62 | .72 |
| Jerusalems, | 12.47 | 3.75 | 1.35 | .29 | .53 |
Again, p. 449.—“Seventh experiment—with a cow two hundred and ninety days after calving.—In this trial the ration consisted of Jerusalem potatoes equivalent to thirty-three pounds of hay, under which the milk may be said to have remained stationary, though it was above rather than under the six pints per diem, as in the sixth experiment,” (with Irish potatoes).
I consider, therefore, that, according to experiment and analysis, the Jerusalem Artichoke is fully equal to the potato as food for stock, and greatly superior to beets, turnips, and carrots. In the regimen that I have prescribed for the cow, I have given the Jerusalem Artichoke the preference over all other roots, because I deem it superior to them in all respects. It contains more nutriment than any of them, excepting the potato; it is less exhaustive of the soil, and more efficacious in improving it; it produces a larger crop; it is less liable to failure in adverse weather; it keeps better and with less care; it is eaten with a greater relish by stock; and it requires less labor in cultivating, harvesting, and feeding it. Analysis has shown that it contains its carbonaceous principles in the form of sugar instead of starch, 14.8 parts of uncrystallizable sugar having been found in one hundred parts of the tuber. It has no starch cells to be broken up by boiling, in order to make it a digestible aliment; and how large soever the tubers may be, they can be fed without being cut into slices, on account of their fragility and brittleness, being masticated by the cow without difficulty or danger of choking.
The Jerusalem Artichoke is little known and cultivated in this country, and its merits are not fully appreciated anywhere. The reason probably is because there is but a limited demand for it in the market. But it should not be neglected on that account; for it is not the less valuable, because the profits derived from it are indirect. It should never be raised as a volunteer crop, as is too often the case, but should be regularly planted and worked like other products. I have discussed this plant as advantageous food for “one” cow, and I may add that it is equally meritorious for any number of cows. But its advantages do not stop here. Horses, cattle, sheep, and swine, thrive and fatten on it, and the millions of acres of exhausted and deteriorated lands, that descend as a profitless inheritance from generation to generation in the Eastern and Southern States, can be improved and kept fertile, with profit to the farmer during the process of renovation, without the aid of artificial fertilizers or imported manures, by feeding the tubers of the Jerusalem Artichoke to stock on the farm.