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 _Azote._ _Phos. _Lime._ _Bone
Substances._ Acid._ 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.