504 



Feeds and Feeding. 



one-half tons of grain additional, will return 800 pounds of in- 

 crease with lambs. After allowing liberally for the value of the 

 grain, there are profitable returns from the rape field. 



768. Rape compared with blue-grass pasture. At the Wiscon- 

 sin Station 1 Craig studied the influence of rape forage and blue- 

 grass pasture in the fattening of lambs. A bunch of 96 grade 

 Shropshire lambs from Northern Wisconsin was divided into two 

 lots of 48 each, one grazing on blue-grass pasture and the other 

 hurdled on a rape field. In addition to this feed they were sup- 

 plied a grain mixture of equal parts of peas and corn by weight. 

 The lambs were fed on pasture or rape for four weeks, after which 

 they were placed in feeding pens and the grain ration increased. 

 During the preliminary feeding of four weeks the 48 lambs on the 

 rape pasture consumed .64 acres of rape, gaining 50 per cent, 

 more in weight than the lot on blue-grass pasture. The results 

 of the trial are summarized in the table below: 



Rape compared with blue- grass pasture in preparing lambs for fat- 

 tening Wisconsin Station. 



During the four weeks preliminary feeding, the lambs on rape 

 with some grain gained 2.6 pounds per head weekly, while those 

 on blue-grass gained but 1.7 pounds. During the twelve weeks 

 fattening which followed the preliminary period just described 

 the rape-fed lambs gained 20 pounds, while those on the blue-grass 

 pasture gained 18 pounds. The amount of grain required for 100 

 pounds of gain was also less with the lambs previously fed on 

 rape. This trial tends to establish a secondary value for rape in 

 sheep feeding. 



1 Kept. 1897. 



