152 SOILING CROPS AND THE SILO. 



More commonly, however, rape is virtually allowed 

 to reach its growth before the feeding is begun, and 

 it is questionable if more or even as much food can 

 be obtained by cutting this crop once or twice when 

 immature, as when it is allowed to practically mature 

 before the feeding begins. By maturity is meant, 

 in the present instance, a stage when further growth 

 ceases. This point once reached, there will likely 

 be greater or less loss in hot weather before the crop 

 can be fed, as the lower leaves, especially, will be- 

 come yellow and crisp, and in some instances, the 

 plants will be attacked by the white aphis. When 

 indications of such attack are present, the crop should 

 be fed with all haste, otherwise it may soon become 

 valueless. 



To avoid such risk, in hot weather it may be 

 well to commence feeding the plants before they 

 have completed their maturity. But in cool moist 

 weather a large majority of the plants will so retain 

 their greenness, that the feeding of the crop may be 

 made to cover two months, at least without much loss 

 in food value. It may be well to mention here, that 

 any unused residue of the crop in the late autumn 

 may be cut before severe frosts arrive, thrown into 

 heaps and fed from these, even after the snow has 

 fallen to a considerable depth. But where the cold 

 of winter is usually intense, this could not be done 

 with profit. The plants like those of sorghum are 

 slow indeed to spoil when thus handled. 



The crop may be cut with scythe or mower 

 according to the amount wanted, and if put into 

 heaps soon after it is cut, in the field, the feed yard or 

 the sheds, it will retain its palatability for several 



