248 FEEDS AND FEEDING 



should be fed after milking to avoid tainting the milk. When cabbage 

 is raised for market, the small heads and the leaves may be fed to stock. 



380. Kohlrabi, Brassica caulorapa. This member of the mustard fam- 

 ily, which is valued for its thickened, turnip-like stem, can be grown 

 wherever rutabagas thrive, tho the yield is usually lower. According to 

 the New York (Cornell) Station 23 kohlrabi is a good substitute for 

 rutabagas in the Middle West, where these roots have a tendency to run 

 to neck and form little root. Kohlrabi stands well out of the ground and 

 thus can be readily pastured by sheep, which also relish the leaves. This 

 crop has not been known to taint the milk when fed to cows. 



381. Rape, Brassica napus. Largely thru the instrumentality of our 

 experiment stations, rape is now extensively grown by stockmen thruout 

 the United States. This member of the turnip family stores its nutri- 

 ment in the numerous leaves and stems, the parts eaten by stock. The 

 Dwarf Essex variety should be sown, birdseed rape being worthless. 

 While rape can be used for soiling, it is best to let stock harvest the crop. 

 Unless grown in rows, cattle will tramp down considerable of the forage 

 while grazing. Rape is rarely used for silage. The seed, which is in- 

 expensive, may be sown in succession from early spring until August in 

 the North and even later in the South, either broadcast, in drills and 

 cultivated, or finally with corn just previous to the last cultivation. 



Rape requires a rich soil and plenty of moisture. It does not thrive 

 on poor sandy land. From 6 to 12 weeks after seeding the crop is large 

 enough for use. Zavitz of the Ontario College 24 reports a yield of 27 tons 

 of rape forage per acre from 2 Ibs. of seed sown in drills 27 inches apart, 

 the crop having been cultivated every 10 days. In plot tests covering 15 

 years he secured an average yield of 19.2 tons per acre. 25 Eape endures 

 quite severe frosts, therefore furnishing late autumn feed. It should 

 never be eaten so closely that only the bare stalks remain, for the yield of 

 new leaves will then be reduced. Animals on rape consume large amounts 

 of salt, which should be freely supplied, as it tends to check any undue 

 laxative effect of the forage. Sometimes stock must be taught to eat 

 rape, but they later become fond of it. 



Rape is used most largely for swine and sheep (992, 874-5), but also 

 furnishes good grazing for cattle. To avoid tainting the milk of dairy 

 cows, rape should be fed or grazed only directly after milking. Rape 

 furnishes one of the best forages for hogs, and, as it somewhat more than 

 maintains them, all the grain which is fed goes to make gain. The white 

 breeds of swine sometimes suffer from a blistering of the skin if allowed 

 to graze rape when the leaves are wet. In the northern states where field 

 peas thrive, a mixture of rape, oats, and field peas may furnish even 

 better grazing than rape alone. Access to grass pasture helps prevent 

 bloat in sheep or cattle grazed on rape. (874) 



88 N. Y. (Cornell) Bui. 244. ^Ont. Agr. College, Rpt. 19. 



"Ont. Dept. Agr., Bui. 228. 



