30 FARM PRACTICE WITH FORAGE CROPS IN OREGON, ETC. 



table also shows the great waste in feeding corn green instead of 

 letting it mature properly and making it into ensilage. 



In order that ensihige may keep well, corn should be cut about the 

 time the kernels are well glazed and dented. If it is cut too green, 

 as stated, too much acid develops; if cut too ripe it does not settle 

 properly and the air is not sufficiently excluded to prevent spoiling. 

 The ripest corn should always be cut first and placed in the bottom 

 of the silo, because the great pressure near the bottom will tend to 

 exclude the air. 



If planted on rich, mellow, well-drained land between the middle 

 of May and the first of June, corn should be ready for feeding green 

 from about the 1st to the 15th of August. As previously stated 

 early varieties should be planted, and seed grown west of the Cascade 

 Mountains succeeds better than eastern seed. 



RAPE. 



Rape {Brassica 7iapus) has been grown in the Willamette Valley 

 with excellent results for twenty years. It is a succulent, nutritious 

 forage plant, admirably adapted to the moist, mild climate of th(? 

 Pacific coast. It stands considerable freezing, and is seldom winter- 

 killed west of the Cascade Mountains. It does best on deep, warm, 

 well-manured loamy soils. It succeeds well also on peaty soils, but is 

 not adapted to very light sandy or heavy clay soils. It is a heavy 

 feeder, and must not be expected to succeed on poor, worn-out land. 



Rape is an excellent crop for pasture or soiling, i. e., for cutting and 

 feeding green for hogs, sheep, goats, and poultry. Fed to dairy 

 cows it causes a large flow of milk, but to avoid tainting the milk 

 it should be fed immediately after milking, at the rate of 30 to 50 

 pounds i^er day, in two feeds. On account of danger of bloating, 

 sheep, goats, and cattle should never be turned on rape for the first 

 time when they are hungry, or when the rape is wet with dew or rain. 

 They should have plenty of something else to eat first, and plenty of 

 salt at all times. It is a good plan to give them access to hay or a 

 grass j^asture to j^revent overloading on rape. ^AHien sheep have 

 become accustomed to it they may be left on it continually with but 

 little danger. 



Rape is grown and utilized west of the Cascade Mountains in sev- 

 eral different ways: 



(1) "When grown for early summer use, the largest yields and the 

 best results are secured by making a succession of plantings at inter- 

 vals of two or three weeks, beginning in the early spring as soon as 

 the ground can be put into perfect tilth. The ground should be well 

 manured and the seed planted in drills 24 to 36 inches aj^art at the 

 rate of about 2 pounds per acre. A common garden drill may be used 



94 



