41)4 IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



"In cutting rape at different heights, the best results were obtained from 

 cutting about four inches from the ground. Two cuttings were made from 

 the piece so treated, one August 29th and the other November 6th, and 

 the yield was at the rate of 36 tons per acre. 



"There are exceptional possibilities in well-grown rape for fattening 

 lambs, if it is fed with proper judgment and care. It may be fed to 

 best advantage in the early fall, and hence is of valuable assistance in 

 fattening lambs for the fall or early winter market. It supplies a 

 vast amount of food of which the lambs are very fond, and, as it with- 

 stands drought and early frost better than most succulent fodders, it 

 is a crop that may be relied upon with at least common certainty. 

 The first trials reported with rape for fattening lambs were made in 

 England about 1845. Ten wethers fed on rape alone from August 10th 

 to September 21st made an average increase in the six weeks of twenty 

 pounds, or two pounds per head weekly. 



"The most extensive trials in feeding lambs on rape have been carried 

 on at the Ontario Experimental Farm. In 1890, 54 acres of rape pas- 

 tured 17 head of steers and 537 sheep, and one acre of the rape sus- 

 tained 12 lambs for two months. It is estimated that the food provided 

 by an acre of rape was worth $16.80. In another trial rape alone was 

 fed to 60 lambs, and they were kept on 2.18 acres for twenty-five days, 

 during which time they increased in weight 390 pounds, or an average 

 weekly increase per head of 1.82 pounds. Again, in an experiment on 

 one-sixth of an acre, 6 lambs were kept for forty -two days, and from 

 this it is concluded that one acre would have pastured 36 lambs two 

 months and have made 762 pounds of mutton. 



"At the Michigan Station 15 acres of rape pastured 128 lambs for 

 seven and a half weeks, with a total gain of 2,890 pounds. At this rate 

 it is estimated that one acre would pasture 9 lambs seven weeks, and 

 they would produce 202.5 pounds of increase. It is stated that the field 

 would unquestionably have pastured 10 lambs for the period of ten 

 weeks." 



Rape has a comparatively narrow nutritive ratio, since it contains a 

 large per cent of digestible protein to the per cent of digestible carbo- 

 hydrates, in this respect resembling clover and alfalfa. Each animal 

 requires certain quantities of these elements in his daily ration for the 

 best gains, and whether the elements are bought in the market in the 

 form of by-products such as linseed meal, cotton seed meal, or any other 

 highly proteinaceous substance, or whether it is grown on the farm, the 

 suit in feeding is the same. 



The following experiment was conducted at the South Dakota Ex- 

 periment Station during September and October, 1908 and 1909: Each 

 year forty-eight (48) head of lambs were purchased, divided into four 

 different lots of twelve (12) head each, and weighed up fof the test. 

 Each lot was provided with a small house for shelter in case of storm. 

 Lot 1 received rape pasture alone, Lot 2 received rape pasture and 

 shelled corn. Lot 3 received rape pasture and oats, and Lot 4 received 

 rape pasture and barley. With the exception of Lot 1, each lot was given 

 what grain it would eat up clean. The first test extended over a period 



