150 FIELD 'AND GARDEN PRODUCTS 



ever this plant is grown for its fiber it is well to remember that it will 

 also furnish valuable feed. Rape (Brassica napus). Rape has re- 

 ceived but little attention in America until within comparatively re- 

 cent years, and is now much more widely grown in Canada than in 

 the United States. Practically, all the rape grown in this country is 

 the winter or biennial sort, but in Europe, especially in England, 

 summer rape is widely cultivated. The seed yields about 33 per 

 cent of expressed oil, which is of value for lubricating and is also 

 used for lighting. The compressed rape-seed cake is used as a food 

 for stock and as a fertilizer. It is regarded as particularly valuable 

 as a fertilizer for flax and turnips. The seed is much used as a bird 

 food. In this country rape is grown almost exclusively for forage, 

 being used chiefly for soiling and summer and autumn pasturage. 

 Dwarf Essex or English rape has been most widely cultivated. Re- 

 cently a variety has been placed on the market under the name of 

 Dwarf Victoria rape, or simply Victoria rape, which has given excel- 

 lent results in New England, and also in the Northwest, yielding, 

 as a rule, rather better than the Dwarf Essex. At the New Hampshire 

 Experiment Station this variety is reported as yielding nearly 50 

 tons of green fodder per acre, and yields of 25 to 30 tons per acre 

 are reported from South Dakota and elsewhere in the Northwest. 

 Under average conditions a yield of from 10 to 20 tons or more may 

 be expected from either of these varieties. Throughout the North- 

 ern States generally, seeding may take place from the 1st of June 

 or possibly earlier, to the middle or last of July, according to the 

 season and locality. In the South the seed may be sown in Septem- 

 ber or early in October. Under favorable conditions 3 pounds of seed 

 per acre will be sufficient, and it will never be necessary to use more 

 than 5 pounds per acre. The seed should be planted in drills far 

 enough apart to allow cultivation. In practice the distance varies 

 from 24 to 28 inches. For planting large fields a grain drill with 

 some of the feed hoppers closed may be used. When the ground 

 is clean and in proper condition, good results may be obtained by 

 using the grain drill with all feed hoppers open, and giving no after 

 cultivation. As a rule, however, it will be best to plant in wide drills 

 and give sufficient shallow cultivation to aerate the soil and destroy 

 weeds. With favorable conditions, good crops of rape may be ob- 

 tained from broadcast seeding; but whenever there is any danger 

 of the surface soil becoming very dry during the time the seed is 

 germinating, or when land is at all foul, drilling will give much 

 better results. The rape is usually ready for use in about eight or 

 ten weeks from the date of seeding. The general practice is to use 

 it as a soiling crop or as pasturage. Sheep and swine may be turned 

 into the field and allowed to remain until the rape is pastured off. 

 Cattle may also be allowed to run in the field, but as they waste much 

 of the forage by pulling up the plants or trampling them down it is 

 a better plan to cut the rape with a scythe or mower and feed it 

 green. With sheep and cattle care should be taken at first not to 

 allow the animals to eat too much, as there is danger of injury from 

 bloating. Hungry animals should not be allowed to eat their fill, 



