592 



FARMER'S CYCLOPEDIA OF LIVE STOCK 



reported in its use as a summer soil- 

 ing crop for breeding ewes. 



When the crop is seeded in May it is 

 ready for the first cutting in about two 

 months, and two more cuttings can be 

 obtained by snowfall, yielding in all 

 about 30 tons of green forage to the 

 acre. It is exceptionally good as a fall 

 pasture crop for fattening lambs. It is 

 best if fed in the early fall. Lambs are 

 very fond of it, and the crop withstands 

 early frosts better than most succulent 

 fodders. 



In some English experiments, sheep 

 pastured on rape six weeks made an 

 average gain of 2 pounds a head weekly. 

 In extensive trials with this crop at the 

 Ontario Experimental farm in Canada, 

 an acre of rape sustained 12 lambs for 

 two months, and had a feeding value 

 of $16.80. In another trial, 60 lambs 

 were pastured on 2.2 acres of rape for 

 25 days without other food, during 

 which time they increased in weight 

 390 pounds, making a weekly average 

 increase a head of 1.8 pounds. Again, 

 six lambs were pastured 42 days on one- 

 sixth of an acre, from which it is cal- 

 culated that one acre would pasture 36 

 lambs two months, and make 762 pounds 

 of gain. As a fall pasture crop for fat- 

 tening lambs at the Wisconsin station, 

 the average results show a weekly gain 

 of 2V 2 pounds a head. In this case 

 about 1 pound of grain was fed in ad- 

 dition to each sheep. 



In a comparison at that station be- 

 tween blue grass pasture and rape pas- 

 ture, two lots of 48 lambs each were 

 fed the same amount of grain and one 

 lot pastured on blue grass and the other 

 on rape. In four weeks the rape fed 

 lot had gained 501 pounds and the lot 

 pastured on blue grass but 325 pounds. 

 The lambs were then put up for the 

 winter and fed like grain and hay ra- 

 tions. In 12 weeks the rape pastured 

 lambs had gained 952 pounds, and the 

 lot pastured on blue grass 858 pounds, 

 thus giving evidence of the value of 

 rape in preparing lambs for winter feed- 

 ing. 



Extensive experiments have also been 

 reported from the Michigan station on 

 the use of rape for fall pasturing lambs. 

 In one experiment, 125 grade Shrop- 

 shires were fall pastured for five weeks 

 on 15 acres of rape and made an average 

 weekly gain of 3 pounds a head. Rape 

 fed lambs at this station have inva- 



riably been in better condition in No- 

 vember than grass fed lambs, and in 

 comparison have made practically as 

 good gains in winter grain feeding. 



That station states that as a rule 

 lambs may be pastured on rape in that 

 latitude from September 15 to November 

 15 in the proportion of 15 to 20 lambs 

 to the acre and gain 20 pounds each. It 

 is advised that lambs never be put on 

 rape without first pasturing them a few 

 hours on grass or giving them a feed of 

 hay and grain. The flock should be ac- 

 customed to the rape gradually and in 

 the beginning should not be left on more 

 than two hours at a time, otherwise they 

 are liable to bloat and some of them be 

 lost. After five or six days they may 

 be left on all the time, but must be care- 

 fully watched and if signs of bloat ap- 

 pear should be promptly driven from the 

 field. 



It is much safer if some other pasture 

 is fed in connection with the rape. Be- 

 fore turning the lambs on the rape they 

 should be docked and trimmed, as the 

 rape has a loosening effect. Ideal con- 

 ditions are supplied when the blue grass 

 pasture is adjacent to the rape. 



Bloat on rape — Should bloat occur, a 

 tablespoonful of spirits of ammonia 

 given in a half pint of warm water will 

 usually relieve the first stages; if the 

 lamb is down and the stomach greatly 

 extended it should be punctured at the 

 point of greatest swelling on the left 

 side with a trocar and canula or with a 

 knife. 



The advantage of feeding pasture with 

 rape is well brought out in experiments 

 in the Ontario station, in which 15 

 lambs pastured on an acre of rape alone 

 for 58 days, gained 23 pounds a head, 

 while 15 other lambs during the same pe- 

 riod on both rape and grass pasture 

 gained 28 pounds a head, a gain of 

 more than 20 per cent for the grass and 

 rape pasture. When oats were fed with 

 rape, at the same station, at the rate of 

 i/2 pound a head daily, the gain of 15 

 wethers pastured 58 days on an acre of 

 rape was about 24 pounds a head, or a 

 weekly increase of 2.8 pounds each. 



The experimental result noted above 

 with rape shows quite conclusively that 

 this is one of the most valuable of all 

 the pasture crops we have, being on the 

 whole superior to either alfalfa or clo- 

 ver, from the standpoint of palatability 

 and gains made. On the other hand, it 



