284 



MISSOURI AGRICULTURAL REPORT. 



RAPE. 



This crop should be sown as early in the spring as the ground will 

 work. The richer the land the better. An old feed lot, or land that 

 has been heavily manured should be selected and broken in the fall if 

 possible, so that only the surface will need to be worked in the spring. 

 Sow in rows about thirty to thirty-six inches apart, using about three 

 pounds of seed per acre, and cultivate level and shallow once or twice, 

 or as often as is necessary to keep the weeds down. Each time the 

 rape is eaten down it should be given a cultivation to facilitate its start- 



Rape lield at Experiment Station ; sown March 20th ; photograph talien May 20th, 1902. 



Rape 30 inches high and ready to pasture. 



ing into growth again. By sowing broadcast the rape will not produce 

 anything like as much as when grown in rows, but will be somewhat 

 more palatable. At the Experiment Station almost twice as large a 

 yield has been uniformly obtained frorri growing it in rows than from 

 broadcasting. If sown broadcast, about five pounds of seed are re- 

 quired per acre, covered with a smoothing harrow. One of the sec- 

 rets of success in growing rape in this climate is to get the seed in 

 early. A frost or even a light freeze when the young plants are com- 

 ing up will not hurt them. By the middle of May the rape is large 

 enough to turn on, and it may be pastured at any time after that. If 

 the green lice or cabbage worms attack the rape in any considerable 

 quantities, it is essential to pasture it hard at once to prevent their de- 



