the rape plants shade the ground so completely as to keep the weeds 

 down. An excellent treatment for a foul field is to plow thoroughl,y 

 in late summer or early autumn and seed to rye or some other forage 

 crop to be pastured off during the fall, winter, or early spring. When 

 the crop has been pastured sufficiently and before the weeds have 

 produced seed, plow again, plant rape in drills and give thorough 

 cultivation. There are few weeds that will survive such treatment 

 and the land will have given profitable returns in forage in tlu^ mean- 

 time, 



HARVESTING AND UTILIZING THE CROP. 



The rape is usually ready for use in about 8 or 10 weeks from the 

 date of seeding. The general practice is to use it as a soiling crop 

 or as pasturage. Sheep and swine may be turned into the field and 

 allowed to remain until the rape is pastured off. Cattle may also be 

 allowed to run in the field, but as they waste much of the forage by 

 pulling up the plants and trampling them down it is a better plan to 

 cut the rape with a scythe or mower and feed it to the animals. 



With sheep and cattle care should be taken at first not to allow 

 the animals to eat too much, as there is danger of injury from bloat- 

 ing. Hungry animals should not be allowed to eat their fill, and it 

 is not best to turn them into the rape when the leaves are wet. 

 There is no danger of bloating with swine. It is an excellent plan 

 to have the fields so arranged that the sheep and cattle have access 

 to an open pasture as well as to the rape. Animals should have free 

 access to salt at all times when being pastured on this crop. 



FEEDING VALUE. 



Rape has a high feeding value. It makes an excellent feed for 

 fattening sheep and swine and for producing an abundant fiow of 

 milk in milch cows. On account of danger of tainting the milk 

 many people do not feed it to the cows until after milking. Rape 

 can be used to good advantage as a part of the ration for animals 

 that are being fed in pens for market or for the show ring. It is 

 also a valuable food for young lambs at weaning time. By begin- 

 ning as early as practicable in the spring and seeding at interva.ls of 

 two or three weeks, a continuous succession of rape can be produced 

 throughout the period when the permanent pastures are most likel}' 

 to be short. Rape will endure quite severe cold weather and thus 

 will last a long time after the ordinary pasture grasses succumb 

 to the frost. By the use of this crop stock, can be gotten into good 

 condition for the holiday markets or for winter and there need be no 

 check in growth, fat, and milk production through insufficient suc- 

 culent food during the late summer and autumn months, as is 

 too frequently the case. 



