of the Jerusalem Artichoke furnish excellent material for litter for the
cow. They grow to a hight of from eight to ten feet, are composed almost
entirely of pith, and are so fragile that they can easily be broken into
fragments. As many of them should be stowed in the stable as it will
contain, and the rest, if any, should be stacked outside. Before bedding
the cow with them, it is advisable to crush them with a mallet on a block
prepared for the purpose. This labor will require but a few minutes daily
to provide sufficient litter, and will make a comfortable bed for the
cow, absorbing and retaining the liquid manure. The stalks cannot be used
for fodder after being frost-killed.
If the food of the cow should at any time run short the deficiency must
be supplied, for it will not do to stint her, and if it is ever found
necessary to change or modify her diet, it should be done.
I have allowed three-quarters of an acre for the sustenance of the cow,
and this will be sufficient, but only on condition that the land is in
good heart. If the land is poor at the start, it will be safer to begin
with more, and afterwards to reduce the quantity to three-quarters of
an acre, as the soil increases in fertility. The value of clover as a
renovator of the soil is well known, but the Jerusalem Artichoke is
equally efficacious, if fed on the farm, for it attracts its nitrogen to
a great extent from the atmosphere. The dairy-farm now under discussion
possesses all the advantages that can be derived from these plants as
fertilizers, and as the other crops raised on it do not injuriously
exhaust the soil, being cut before they produce their seed, the land will
improve indefinitely in fertility.