SEEDING OF RAPE 295 



The quantity should be increased in dry weather 

 and on poor lands. When sown broadcast, three 

 to five pounds per acre will be sufiicient, and when 

 sown in drills from one to two pounds is recom- 

 mended. For soiling purposes, it should prefera- 

 bly be seeded in drills and about the time that 

 corn is seeded, or when time of severe freezing is 

 past. Machinery adapted for planting small seeds 

 can be successfully used for this purpose. 



Tillage should begin as soon as the plants are 

 well started, and repeated as frequently as possible 

 until the plants have arrived at such stage of 

 growth as will not permit of further cultivation 

 without injury. Ordinary cultivators will answer 

 for the work, but one that will cut close to the line 

 of the row, without covering the plants, is the 

 best, especially in the earlier stages of growth. 

 As with corn, the first cultivation should be deep 

 and gradually become shallow as the roots take 

 possession of the soil. 



Feeding value of rape crop 



The value of rape as forage is chiefly as a 

 soiling crop or for pasture; that is, it cannot be 

 harvested and preserved with advantage. When 

 used as a soiling crop, it may be cut with a mower 

 and placed in heaps, which will remain good for 

 two or three days. The following description of 



