154 FORAGE CROPS. 



eight to twelve weeks from the time of sowing the 

 seed. To provide sheep pasture, rape is not com- 

 monly sown until after the season for planting corn, 

 as it is in the autumn that such pasture is most 

 wanted. But to provide swine pasture it ought to 

 be sown early, and also later at successive intervals. 

 In countries with moist autumns and mild winters, 

 it may be advantageous to sow the seed in the 

 autumn. 



The method of sowing will depend upon such 

 conditions as the nature of the climate, the strength 

 of the soil, its cleanness or the opposite, whether the 

 seed is sown alone or along with another crop, and 

 on the nature of the machinery at hand for sowing 

 it. The more moist the climate, the stronger the 

 soil and the cleaner the land, the less the 

 hazard in broadcasting the seed. The drier the 

 climate, the poorer the soil, and the more foul the 

 land, the greater the necessity for sowing in drills 

 that cultivation may be given. When cleaning the 

 land is one of the objects sought in sowing rape, it 

 should always be sown in drills. If sown with 

 another crop it must usually be broadcasted. The 

 broadcasting is commonly done by hand, or by using 

 some form of hand seeder, but when the seed is put 

 in rows and sown on large areas, it is put into the 

 soil with the grain drill, or with a two-row 

 turnip drill. 



The amount of seed required will also vary with 

 the conditions. When rape is broadcasted and 

 where it is the sole crop grown upon the land, from 

 three to five pounds of seed are required per acre. 

 If drilled in rows, from one to two pounds are used. 

 The stronger the soil and the more favorable the 



