140 DESCRIPTION OF FEEDING STUFFS 
dried beet pulp, or with grass pasture, mixed hay, cornstalks, ete. 
Rape has proved an excellent feed for sheep, swine, and cattle. At 
the Ottawa station a bunch of 22 steers made an average gain of 
50 pounds live weight in three weeks on an area of two acres; about 
30 sheep had been allowed to pasture on a part of this field for ten 
weeks. The sheep also had access to a limited area of natural. grass. 
pasture. In an experiment with pigs, 60 pigs were fed on. an. 
acre and a half of rape; in addition to the rape pasture, about 500 
pounds of grain were required for each pig from weaning time to an- 
average of 185 pounds weight in October or November.® 
The value of rape as a forage plant has also been established 
by experiments at the Wisconsin, Iowa, Michigan, and other stations. 
At the Wisconsin station a gain of 413.5 pounds of mutton was ob- 
tained from 934 tons of rape and 1439.8 pounds of grain (wheat 
and oats). The highest yield obtained from three cuttings at about 
four inches from the ground was at the rate of 36 tons of green 
forage per acre. An acre of rape was found to have a feeding value 
equivalent to 2657 pounds of grain fed to pigs four.to ten months 
old. Young pigs did better when pastured on rape than on clover, 
grain being fed in both cases. Rape has an excellent effect on the 
milk secretion, and therefore makes a valuable soiling crop for 
dairy cows. As in the case of turnips, cabbages, and other plants with 
strong flavor, it should be fed after milking. Rape can be used to 
good advantage as a part of the ration for animals that are being 
fed in pens for market or for the show ring. It is also a valuable 
feed for young lambs and pigs at weaning time. Rape can stand 
quite cold weather, and will, therefore, last a long time after the 
pasture grasses succumb to frost; by the use of this crop stock can be 
put into good condition for the holiday markets or for winter, and 
there need be no check in growth, fat, and milk production through 
insufficient succulent feed during the late summer and autumn 
months, as is too frequently the case.® 
Kale (Brassica oleracea, var. Asephaila) belongs to the mustard 
family and stands quite close to the cabbage in composition and. 
feeding value. It is only grown to a small extent for forage purposes 
in this country, the only States where its use appears to have spread 
being Oregon and western Washington. On rich land, well sup- 
plied with moisture, it gives an immense amount of nutritious 
5 Ottawa Bulletin 42, 
°Farmers’ Bulletin 164; Division Agrostology, U. 8. Department of 
Agriculture, Circular 12; Wisconsin Report 20, pp. 46-55 and 281-283. 
