158 FORAGE CROPS. 



the leaves are not far distant as they reach out 

 toward the center of the space between the rows. 



It is not common to thin the rape, because of 

 the amount of labor involved, although larger crops 

 would result if it were thinned. Unless the land is 

 quite foul with weeds that grow rapidly, the rape 

 will generally choke the weeds in the line of 

 the row. But large weeds should be struck out 

 with the hoe or topped back rather than have them 

 go to seed. 



Pasturing. — Rape may be pastured off at vari- 

 ous stages of development, according to the object 

 sought. When eaten down before it has made a 

 maximum growth it will grow up again with more 

 or less vigor. The strength of the second growth 

 will be proportionate to the character of the soil as 

 to texture and richness, to the character of the sea- 

 son as to moisture or the opposite, and to the nature 

 of the pasturing. The richer and moister the soil, 

 the more moist the weather, and the earlier and less 

 close the depasturing, the stronger will be the second 

 growth of the rape. But depasturing should not 

 commence in any event until the rape has become 

 well established in the soil, that is to say, until it has 

 made a growth of several inches. And in pasturing 

 off rape with a view to getting a second or a third 

 growth, the animals which feed upon it are very 

 prone to crop it off so closely that the capacity of the 

 plant to grow again is weakened. This is particu- 

 larly true of sheep. Experiment has not told us 

 whether more food will be obtained from allowing 

 the rape to approach the maximum of development 

 before it is eaten down or from pasturing it off at 

 two or three successive intervals. But in the judg- 



