174 SWINE IN AMERICA 



That rape is the most satisfactory and cheapest green 

 feed for swine that we have fed. 



That every feeder of hogs in Wisconsin should plant 

 each spring a small field of rape adjoining his hog yard, 

 and provide himself with a few rods of movable fence, 

 to properly feed the rape to lirood sows and young pigs. 



That rape should be sown for this purpose in drills 30 

 inches apart to facilitate the stirring of the ground and 

 cultivation after each successive growth has been eaten 

 off. 



That hogs should not be turned upon a rape pasture 

 until the plants are at least 12 to 14 inches high and that 

 they should be prevented from rooting while in the rape 

 field. 



That rape alone is not a satisfactory feed when it is 

 desired to have any live weight gain made in hogs, 

 though it has been found that they will just about main- 

 tain themselves without loss of weight on rape. 



Rape grows rapidly; it may be sown at successive 

 intervals so as to afford continuous pasturage from the 

 first of June until frost and a large supply of food from 

 a given area. Hogs do not take to rape readily at first, 

 but soon acquire a taste for it and eat it freely. It has an 

 excellent eft'ect on the quality of the product, giving 

 almost invariably a firm carcass. Three pounds of seed 

 per acre give a very good stand, if the seed is fresh and 

 of good quality. If the rape is too thin on the ground it 

 grows somewhat coarse in texture and is not eaten so 

 readily. 



The editor of the Dakota Farmer says : "Dwarf Essex 

 rape is a godsend to the northwestern hog-grower; it 



