84 SHEEP FEEDING 



pasturing has not been too close and rains are at all favor- 

 able, the rape will make a new growth ; and by thus caring 

 for it a green pasture will be made available from spring 

 until late fall, for this crop is not injured by frost. 



Rape when grown alone. If the rape is pastured when it is 

 the only crop occupying the ground, hurdles or some kind 

 of temporary fencing should be used to keep the stock from 

 running over the whole field, for in this way they waste no 

 small amount. Trials at the University of Wisconsin show 

 that an acre of rape has a feeding value equivalent to a ton 

 and a quarter of grain when fed in conjunction with grain, 

 and other tests show that a good growth will pasture from 

 five to twelve lambs for from three to four months. Yields 

 as high as fifty tons of the green crop per acre have been 

 reported, but twenty to thirty tons is ordinarily considered 

 a good yield. When turning any kind of stock on rape it 

 must be done slowly, for there is more or less danger from 

 bloat. This caution applies to all green crops that grow 

 luxuriantly and in such a form that stock can eat large 

 amounts in a short time. 



Pasturing of crops sometimes an injury. On certain types 

 of soil pasturing of crops during wet weather may tend to 

 pack and thus injure it. It is a difficult matter, however, 

 to prevent this when the stock is once on a full feed of the 

 ration, for if they are removed, there is danger of founder 

 when they are returned. It is generally the soils that are 

 low in humus that most readily pack, but as the pasturing 

 of crops increases the humus we see that a continuation of 

 the practice that causes the trouble will ultimately cure it. 



Utilization of cowpeas when grown alone. Detailed methods 

 of growing cowpeas cannot well be given here, for such a dis- 

 cussion would occupy a publication by itself ; in fact nearly 



