Choosing a Forage Crop 163 



winter forage in the South. Although rape does best 

 in a cool moist season, it stands next to alfalfa in its 

 ability to withstand drought. It may be planted so 

 as to supply forage any time during the season, al- 

 though the earlier plantings yield heaviest. With timely 

 rains, rape continues to renew itself throughout the 

 summer if not pastured too closely. Alternating the 

 pigs on different lots insures, for this reason, the best 

 results. 



Rape mixes well when sown with Canadian field peas, 

 oats, or clover. It is often seeded with oats, and will 

 come on and furnish valuable succulence after the grain 

 is harvested. If sown between the corn rows at the time 

 of last cultivation, it will insure better results when 

 hogging-down the corn. Rape may be sown broadcast 

 or drilled in rows 24 to 30 inches apart. The latter 

 method of seeding is usually to be preferred as it may 

 be cultivated, it will yield heavier, and the pigs will de- 

 stroy less by tramping. Pigs recently weaned should be 

 turned on when the plants are 14 to 16 inches high ; with 

 fall pigs, the growth should be, preferably, 16 to 18 inches 

 high. 



Every year a few feeders report that their pigs refuse 

 to eat rape, but at none of the stations of the country 

 where experimental studies have been made of this forage 

 have any results been obtained which would tend to 

 support such a conclusion. Its tendency to cause sores 

 and blisters on thin-skinned pigs is not considered serious. 

 The trouble may be largely avoided by keeping the pigs 

 out while rain or dew is on the plants. Pigs badly 

 blistered have been successfully treated by washing or 

 spraying with a disinfectant, then greasing with lard or 

 vaseline. 



