176 FUNDAMENTALS OF AGRICULTURE. 



Rape is being widely grown in Canada and the 

 northern part of the United States. It is grown in 

 these sections for a soiling crop and for pasture. It 

 is an excellent nutritious and succulent feed. It re- 

 quires a rich, deep and warm sandy or loam soil for 

 best development. It is best adapted to cool, moist 

 climates, but it also does well in the semi-arid regions 

 of this country when irrigated. It stands drought as 

 well as general farm crops and can endure frost better 

 than turnips, rutabagas and cabbage. It is ready to 

 use eight to ten weeks after seeding and may be pas- 

 tured or cut for feed. With cattle and sheep care 

 should be taken not to allow them too much when they 

 are fed it first as it may cause bloating. It does not 

 seem to cause swine to bloat. It is an easy matter to 

 accustom cattle and sheep to rape by allowing them to 

 pasture it a little each day, gradually increasing the 

 length of time. The Dwarf Essex and Giant are 

 popular varieties. 



Soil and Seeding. The land should be plowed 

 deeply in the fall and again in the spring when neces- 

 sary. In the spring the soil should be harrowed and 

 the land put in a fine mellow condition. It may be 

 fertilized similar to cabbage. Seeding should take 

 place in the Northern States from May 25th to July 

 2Oth, and in the Southern States during September 

 and early October. The seed may be planted in drills 

 at the rate of 2 to 5 pounds per acre. The rows 

 should be 24 to 30 inches apart. Sometimes it is 

 broadcasted. Rape makes a good cover crop, as it 

 may follow early maturing crops and so may be used to 

 advantage in rotations. 



IRISH POTATOES. 



Importance. The potato crop for 1909 was 367,- 

 000,000 bushels, which was worth $212,000,000. To 

 fully appreciate the value of this crop we may say that 



