388 FEEDING IN THE FIELD 



number of feeders have finished lambs at very low cost by running 

 them on bluegrass and in corn fields sown to rape and cowpeas. 

 They purchase the lambs early in the autumn and turn them first 

 on the bluegrass and cowpeas. The cowpeas are fed first because the 

 leaves drop after the first frost. After they are gone, the lambs 

 alternate between the bluegrass and the rape. By the time the 

 greater part of the rape is consumed the lambs are fat enough to 

 send to market. If the corn stands up well, the lambs eat very little 

 of it ; hence the bluegrass, cowpeas, and rape produce practically all 

 of the gains. 



Kape is of most value in September and October, but it can be 

 pastured well up into the winter, provided the sheep and lambs have 

 become accustomed to it before it freezes. At first it should be 

 pastured for only an hour or two in the middle of the day when it 

 is dry, but it does not take more than a week or ten days to get the 

 animals accustomed to it so that they can feed upon it at will. 



Three generally practiced ways of getting rape for fall fattening 

 are as follows : First, by seeding it in the normal way as the sole crop 

 in the ground; second, by sowing it with oats 1 at the rate of two 

 pounds of seed to the acre; and, third, by seeding it at the rate of 

 about three pounds per acre in corn at the last cultivation. When 

 there is sufficient moisture, rape sown in oats grows rapidly after the 

 oats are cut and furnishes feed that is ready to be pastured by the 

 first of September. A good growth of rape in corn depends on seed- 

 ing early, on the supply of moisture and the density of the corn 

 foliage, but if the corn is to be pastured with sheep it usually 

 pays to sow rape, for around the edges of the field at least there will 

 be a good growth of it which will be large enough for pasturing by 

 the middle of September or the first of October. 



Corn Fields. If the corn plants are tall, and if they stand 

 well, lambs may run in the corn fields before the corn is husked 

 without doing much damage to the corn crop. They feed on the 

 lower blades of corn, weeds, and grass, and frequently make good 

 gains for several weeks. 



Sheep and lambs are often used to harvest the corn crop. 

 Several years ago Baker Brothers, large sheep feeders in Illinois, 

 made this a regular practice. They sowed rape in their corn, got 

 their lambs in early, and kept them in the fields until practically 

 all of the corn was consumed. When the rape was pretty well eaten 

 out they broke down some of the corn stalks in order to encourage 



