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The liiv.i'th tithl iist-s of /v//v. The growth and uses of rape are 

 not known or appreciated by the average fanner in these colonies, 

 bnl a fe\v in South Australia, Victoria, and New South Wales have 

 grown it for many years with great success. I saw in a Victorian 

 paper not long ago, the editor of which has some pretentions to 

 agricultural knowledge, this plant described as a new kind of grass, 

 and as very valuable for feeding sheep, etc. Rape has no affinity 

 to the grass family graminacc;e ; it belongs to the crucifers. Rape 

 (7>Yc /.we*/ canipestns) is extensively grown in some parts of Europe 

 for the oil expressed from its seeds, and to provide pasture that 

 will fatten sheep readily. The rape plant is a native of Europe, 

 perhaps of England, but it is hard to say where it is actually indi- 

 genous and where naturalised. It bears a close resemblance to 

 swede turnip in the early stages of its growth, but usually attains a 

 greater height than the turnip, and produces more of stem and 

 leaves. It has a fusiform and stringy root, while that of the turnip 

 is bulbous. On average soils, when grown in drills, it usually reaches 

 a height of from 18 to 20 inches, but on soils very rich in vegetable 

 matter it sometimes attains a height of between two and three feet. 

 There are several varieties of rape, but the only kind I have had 

 any experience with as a pasture is known as the dwarf Essex. 

 Like the turnip, rape is adapted to temperate climates. It will 

 be found to grow in temperatures that are cool rather than warm. 

 The most suitable soils for growing rape are fairly moist free- 

 working loams, rich in organic matter. Black loams are also suit- 

 able, -containing, as they generally do, a large amount of humus. 

 Good maize, potato, or turnip land will grow r rape. It will also 

 grow on clay soils after the plants get a start, but not so luxuriantly 

 as on the other soils I have mentioned. Rape as a rotation crop 

 cannot, in my opinion, be excelled. As the extract at the com- 

 mencement of this article shows, I had wonderful results with th^ 

 plant in recuperating old worn-out wheat land in South Australia. 

 At Dookie 1 had a similar experience. There, a paddock of 40 

 acres, which in 1886 had been sown with wheat, was not worth 

 cutting, so poor had the returns been reduced from continued 

 cereal growing. In January of the year following I ploughed the 

 land deeply, and exposed the soil to the ameliorating influence of 

 the hot summer sun. Towards the end of March I had it 

 thoroughly cultivated fully 6 inches deep with scarifier, disc 

 harrow, ordinary harrows and roller, until it was brought to a tilth 

 equal to the proverbial " onion bed." Early in April, and just after 

 the first autumn rains, with sufficient moisture to ensure the rapid 

 germination of the seed, I so\ved the rape broad-cast, at the rate of 

 6 Ib. to the acre on the finely-harrowed surface. To cover the seed 

 I simply passed the roller over it. This, I may say, is sufficient 

 covering, the smaller seeds if buried too deeply do not germinate, 

 and the seedsman is blamed unjustly. Nature sows her seeds very 

 shallow, and they germinate and grow well, especially if they are 



