POTATO TOPS AS FORAGE.

Otago Witness, Issue 3148, 15 July 1914, Page 15

POTATO TOPS AS FORAGE.

From investigations carried out at the Royal Agricultural High School in Berlin it was concluded, according to a note in this month’s Board of Agriculture Journal, that potato tops are equal in value both as regards chemical composition and digestibility to good meadow hay; if anything they are slightly superior to the latter in their proportion of digestible protein. The results of a feeding experiment with dairy cows confirmed this conclusion. The yield of milk and the proportion of fat and dry matter wore at least as high as when good meadow hay was fed. If -well harvested and made into hay or artificially dried the tops wore found’ to be quite unobjectionable for feeding purposes from a hygienic point of view. When properly prepared they wore also found to form good silage, which was willingly eaten. To prevent any unnecessary disturbance of the tubers it is advised that the tops should be cut just before the potatoes are harvested in the normal course. Care should be taken not to include any roots, as the adhering soil may load to disturbances in the health of the animals.