868 PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE. Pakt III 



this view, the first ploughing is mostly given in the autumn, in order that the soil may b 

 exposed to the influence of the atmosphere till the early part of the spring, when it should 

 be again turned over twice, at proper intervals of time; and towards the begin- 

 ning and middle of June one or two additional ploughings should be performed upon it 

 in order that it may be in a fine mellow condition for the reception of the seed. 



5464. The place in a rotation of crops, which rape occupies, is commonly between two 

 of the culmiferous kind. On rich soils it may be succeeded to the greatest advantage by 

 wheat, as it is found to be an excellent preparation for that sort of grain ; and by it& 

 being taken off early, there is sufficient time allowed for getting the land in order for 

 sowing wheat. 



5465. The season of sowing rape is the same as that for the common turnip, and the 

 manner, whether in broad-cast or rows, the same. The row method on the flat surface 

 seems the best for newly broken up lands, and the rows on ridglets, with or without 

 manure, the best for lands that have been under the plough. Where the object is the 

 keep of sheep in autumn or winter by eating it down, the broad-cast method and thick 

 sowing is evidently the best, and is that generally resorted to in Lincolnshire and the 

 fenny districts. The quantity of seed when sown thick may be a peck an acre, but when 

 drilled or sown thin, two or three pounds will suffice. The seed should be fresh, black, 

 and plump. Vacancies may always be filled up by transplanting. 



5466. The season of transplanting begins as soon after the corn harvest as possible, 

 being generally performed on the stubble of some description of corn crop. One deep 

 ploughing, and a sufficient degree of harrowing to pulverise the surface, is given, and 

 the plants may be dibbled in in rows a foot apart, and six inches in the row or narrower, 

 according to the lateness of the season of planting, and the quality of the soil ; for it 

 must be considered that plants transplanted so late as September or October will be far 

 from being so strong the succeeding spring, as those sown in June and left where they 

 are to run. The seed-bed from which the plants are obtained should have been sown 

 in the June or July preceding the transplanting season, and may be merely a ridge or 

 two in the same or in an adjoining field. We have already noticed (457.) the 

 Flemish mode of transplanting by laying the plants in the furrow in the course of 

 ploughing, but as the plants cannot be properly firmed at the lower part of the root, we 

 cannot recommend it. 



5467. The after-culture of rape is the same as that of the turnip, and consists in hoe- 

 ing and thinning. The plants on the poorer soils may be left at six or eight inches 

 apart or narrower, but on the rich they may be thinned to twelve or fifteen inches -with 

 advantage to the seed. Few are likely to grow the plant on ridglets with manure ; 

 but if this were done, the same distance as for turnips will ensure a better crop of seed 

 than if the plants were closer together. In close crops the seed is only found on the 

 summits of the plants ; in wide ones on rich soils, it also covers their sides. When 

 rape seed is grown purposely for sheep keep, no hoeing, thinning, or weeding, are neces- 

 sary. Rape grown for seed will not be much injured by a very slight cropping by 

 sheep early in the autumn, but considerably so by eating down in winter, or the suc- 

 ceeding spring. The seed begins to ripen in the last week of June, and must then be 

 protected as much as possible from birds. 



5468. In harvesting rape great care is requisite not to lose the seed by shaking, chaff- 

 ing, or by exposing it to high winds or rains. 



5469. It is reaped with the hook, and the principal point is to make good use of fine weather ; for as it 

 must be threshed as fast as reaped, or at least without being housed or stacked like other crops, it 

 requires a greater number of hands in proportion to the land, than any other part of husbandry. The 

 reaping is very delicate work, for if the men are not careful, they will shed much of the seed. Moving 

 it to the threshing-floor is another work that requires attention ; one way is to make little waggons 

 on four wheels with poles, and cloths strained over them ; the diameter of the wheels about two feet, 

 the cloth body five feet wide, six long, and two deep, and drawn by one horse, the whole expense not 

 more than 30s. or 495. In. large farms, several of these may be seen at work at a time in one field. The 

 rape is lifted from the ground gently, and dropt at once into these machines without any loss ; they carry 

 it to the threshers, who keep hard at work, being supplied from the waggons as fast as they come, by one 

 set of men, and their straw moved off the floor by another set ; and many hands of all sorts being em- 

 ployed, a great breadth of land is finished in a day. Some use sledges prepared in the same way. All is lia- 

 ble to be stopped by rain, and the crop much damaged ; it is, therefore, of very great consequence to employ 

 as man)^ people as possible, men, women, and boys, to make the greatest use of fine weather. The seed 

 is likewise sometimes cleaned in the field, and put into sacks for the market. But when large quantities 

 ofseed are brought quickly together, as they are liable to heat and become mouldy, it maybe a better 

 method to spread them out thinly over a barn, granary, or other floor, and turn them as often as may be 

 necessary. 



5470. The produce where the plant succeeds well, and the season is favorable for 

 securing the seed, is forty or fifty bushels or more on the acre. Marshal thinks, indeed, 

 that on the whole it may be considered as one of the most profitable crops in husbandry. 

 There have been, says he, instances, on cold unproductive old pasture-lands, in which 

 the produce of the rape crop has been equal to the purchase value of the land. The 



