Rape as a Substitute for the Turnip Crop 



147 



keep ; but there is always a certain propor- 

 tion which must be retained if jjossible, and 

 the number of which may even be increased 

 in some instances by the difficulty experienced 

 in getting surplus stock disposed of. 



Turnips are so essentially the sheet-anchor 

 of the British farmer, that any detrimental 

 causes operating upon that crop is felt 

 throughout every department of the farm ; 

 and it is, therefore, a matter of importance to 

 consider what crop is best suited to act as a 

 substitute for it, and to supply, in some 

 degree at least, a failure of it, of which there 

 is reason to complain in all parts of the 

 kingdom. 



A Lancashire correspondent, who had 

 spent his last Easter holidays near Brighton, 

 Avrites, stating that he saw several fields in 

 that neighbourhood with magnificent crops of 

 rape ready for cutting. Feeling assured that 

 as the present drought will cause our turnip 

 crops to be very light, and that food, in con- 

 sequence, will be correspondingly scarce next 

 spring, he considers that a crop of rape ready 

 at that time will be of great value, and he 

 therefore asks us to give him some informa- 

 tion as to the culti^-ation of rape, so as to 

 come in for use in spring. 



Our coiTespondent has formed a correct 

 estimate of the value of rape, and it is to it we 

 must look in providing a substitute for the 

 turnip crop where the latter shall prove a 

 failure this season. 



Although rape is extensively grown in 

 some districts, chiefly as food for sheep, 

 there are many parts of the country where 

 it is comparatively unknown, and, certainly, 

 where its value is not sufficiently appreciated. 

 Rape may be sown from this time until 

 the end of August or the middle of 

 September, and we have had a very fair 

 spring crop of it even when the seed 

 was not sown until the beginning of Octo- 

 ber, but that is too late to be calculated 

 on as a general rule. If sown now, or until 

 the middle of August, it will be ready, in 

 most cases, by November; and when sown 

 in August and September, it will be fit for 

 use in spring. 



Rape may be grovm on all kinds of arable 



land, provided the soil is in good condition, 

 or fairly manured ; the manures most suitable 

 for it being precisely the same as those used 

 in growing turnips. It may be grown either 

 in drills or ridges, as drills are styled jn 

 some parts, or it may be sown broadcast. 

 We prefer drills 26 to 28 inches apart, as we 

 are thereby enabled to horse-hoe and clean 

 the crop, which cannot be done under the 

 broadcast system. Two or three pounds of 

 seed will be sufficient to sow an imperial 

 acre when the crop is grown in drills, but 10 

 lb. will be required if the seed is sown broad- 

 cast. When the plants are too thick they 

 grovv' up without producing that luxuriance 

 of leaf and stem which is desirable in a forage 

 crop, and it is needful, therefore, to thin them 

 out to 6 or 8 inches when they are too thick. 

 The after-cultivation, so far as regards horse- 

 hoeing, is precisely the same as in the case 

 of drilled turnips. 



As it is with the view of being substituted 

 for turnips where the latter have failed, we 

 consider that the best plan to follow would be 

 to apply a light dose of guano, superphos- 

 phate, or Phospho-guano, run the plough be- 

 tween the drills v\^here turnips have been sovi^n 

 but not germinated, so as to raise fresh earth, 

 and then sow the seed, which will be done 

 by the ordinary turnip-sowing machine. This 

 application of manure will start the seed, and 

 that v/hich is already in the ground, as ap- 

 plied when the turnip seed was sown, will 

 bring the plants on to maturity. 



The crop is consumed by sheep in the same 

 manner as in the case of sheep folded on 

 turnip. It is necessary, however, to bear in 

 mind — as we learned to our cost — that as 

 sheep are apt to become blown on rape, they 

 should not be put on the crop for 

 the first time at least, when their stomachs 

 are comparatively empty. It is advis- 

 able to accustom them to it by degrees, and 

 during the time the sheep are consuming 

 the crop they should have hay or straw and 

 salt supplied to them by way of change, 

 and as a condiment. Some scatter salt on 

 the crop before allomng the sheep a fresh 

 break. This can do no harm, but the salt 

 is just as easily supplied in covered troughs. 



