RAP 



clover, and is confequently prpjudicial to the ntxt fuccecd- 

 iiig winter crop. Othicr diilriits think very difforiMitly on 

 this point. In feeding the crop, the produce is hcrccon- 

 fidered to be in general from twenty-nine to thirty-four 

 bnihels the acre. In the greateft crops and bell feafons, in 

 particular parts it is fuppofed to riie even fo high as five 

 and fix quarters the acre. , 



In Berklhire this fort of crop is not fo much cultivated as 

 it fhould be, as it will fuccecd well on ioil where turnips 

 will not, and with equally beneficial effects to the future 

 crops, when fed off on the ground. When employed it is 

 ufually fown and managed fo as to come into a high Hate of 

 perfeftion in the early fpring months, when rtieep feed is 

 moilly fcarce. It is grown by fome to fupply the deficiency, 

 and found remarkably ufeful, one acre of it affording more 

 feed than two of turnips. 



This fort of crop is itill lefs grown in Oxfordlhire, though 

 occafionally had rc-courfe to, efpecially on the rich red land 

 about Banbury. Some fow it in mixture with the tankard 

 turnip feed, for the pnrpofe of weaning lambs upon : they 

 hegin with the rape, and it teaches them to eat the 

 turnips : it is found to be a very good food for this fort 

 of ftock. 



In the county of Suifex, the South Down flieep farmers 

 hold it in great eftimation, fovving it either alone or in mix- 

 ture with tares as a food for their Ihcep ; very rarely for the 

 purpofe of feeding. The ewes and lambs are wattled upon 

 it in the fpring, and it is very generally allowed to be moll 

 efficacious, and highly nutritious to the young lambs. Some, 

 at the lambing feafon, hardly allow their ewes any other 

 food but this, as the rape is found to produce a larger fupply 

 of milk than turnips ; which, it is fuppofed, has the effect of 

 extending the udder, without affording any confiderable 

 flow of milk. This crop is conjeftured, however, in fome 

 cafes, to have the effeft of caufing the flipping of the lambs, 

 where the ewes are fed upon it. But fuch an effeft is very 

 improbable to arife in tliis vi'ay ; other caufes may have been 

 overlooked. In fome cafes on Down land ray-grafs is fown 

 with the rape for {beep feed, one gallon of rape-feed and 

 two of ray-grafs to the acre. The rape is firft fed off ; and 

 after that the ray-grafs rifes and affords a bite for the 

 fpring feafon. The rape ci'op is ufually put in about June, 

 or the following month, one gallon to the acre. When 

 folded off, a rood and a half is a fuflicient daily confumption 

 for a tlock of fix hundred llieep, or rather more. 



As it has been found in the improving of peat boggy 

 moraffy lands, that what is principally wanted is a crop which 

 can be fown and reaped in the fummer months ; and which 

 may require neither labour nor attendance during the moid 

 feafons of autumn, winter, and fpring ; the writer of the 

 " Treatife on Landed Property" has fuggefted that fortu- 

 nately, fuch a crop is natural to, and has long been inured to 

 the climate of this ifland, as well as one of the' moft profitable 

 in the agriculture of it ; and that this is rape : which is not only 

 fown, but reaped, in the very height of fummer ; and which 

 is known to delight in a foil of this nature. It has, however, 

 only lately been f-iund capable of being raifed with advan- 

 tage oa crude moffy ground, as a firft crop after draining, 

 from fome recent trials made in the north, after the above 

 operation, levelling, paring and burning, and turning the 

 aflies in. The reiult of which was, though the crop was 

 too late in being put in, and the land laid in an improper 

 manner, fuch as to prove clearly that rape-feed may be raifed 

 with profit as a firft crop on drained moory foils. And it is 

 thought highly probable that many extenfive trails of land, 

 which now lie entirely wafte, and as nufauces in their neigh- 

 bourhoods, may through this means be improved with immenfe 



RAP 



profit to their proprietors. The experiment may be tried at 

 a fmali expcnce. The coll of the labour and feed required 

 for a fufficient trial arc inconfiderable. The proof, it is fup- 

 pofed, IS not whether rape will thrive as herbage, but whetlier 

 It Will mature its feed, on the given foil, in the given 

 liluatipn. 



After being recompenfed for the previous cxpcnccs, in 

 one or more rape crops, as there is hc-ie no danger of the 

 exhauftion of the foil, — of impoverifhing, perhajjs, ten feet 

 depth of vegetable mould, it remains to lay the foundation 

 of more permanent profits, which is to be done by fowin-r 

 grafs feeds either with or over the rape crop, or by liTht 

 cautious flocking after removing the (talks, as may be neccf- 

 fary, until there is a firmncfs of furface and a litnefs for 

 mixed cultivation, which may be much haflened by the ufe 

 of heavy calcareous and earthy fubftauces at any time durin^r 

 the procefs of improvement. " 



Rape Caie, the refufe or cake remaining after the oil has 

 been expreffed from rape-feed. It is faid'to be ufeful as a 

 manure. Sec Manmjuk. 



This fubftance is found by chemical trials to contain a 

 large quantity of mucilage, fome albuminous matter, and a 

 fmall quantity of oil. It ffiould be kept as dry as pofTible 

 before it is applied to the foil, and be employed in that way 

 while it is in a freffi ftate. It is fucccfsfully applied in fe- 

 veral ways and intentions, and affords an excellent drefling 

 for turnips. See the next article. 



Rai'e Z)///?, the fmall reduced parts of the dried refufe of 

 rape-feed, or the rape cake, after the oil has been obtained 

 from it. This fubftance has been found ufeful as a top- 

 dreffing for crops of different kinds. 



The rape cake, when reducedS into powder or duft by 

 means of a machine, has been extenfively ufed in Norfolk ; 

 and when for turnip crops, it has been the cuftom to fow it 

 fome weeks before the feed of that root is put into the 

 ground. In the praftice of Mr. Coke of that diftricl, it 

 has, however, been found, that by having it brought into a 

 fine powder it may be drilled from the fame machine, at the 

 fame time with the turnip feed ; and that, by thus delivering 

 the manure and the feed from the fame pipes and (hares of 

 the drill machine, a ton of duft does fix acres in the place 

 of three. See Tuknip. 



In Lancafhire fome farmers ufe it with great advan- 

 tage as a manure for potatoes, putting it in with the 

 fets in the proportion of about tiiirty-twa bulhels to the 

 ftatute acre ; but if the ground were well prepared, and 

 the duft carefully depofited for the reception of the feti;, it 

 is fuppofed, a much fmaller quantity would be fufficient. 

 It produces much luxuriance in the crops, and a very fine 

 produce. 



Rape 0/7, the oil obtained by means of expreffion from 

 the feeds of this plant, in mills conftructed for the purpofe. 

 The refufe oily fubftance of this kind may be employed as 

 manure in mixture with rich earthy matters, with great ad- 

 vantage, wherever it can be procured in any quantity at a 

 reafonable price. 



RAPEL, in Geography, a river of Chili, which runs 

 into the Pacific ocean, S. lat. 34° 8'. — Alfo, a town of 

 Chih, on the forementioned river ; 70 miles S. of Val- 

 parayfo. 



RAPERLAH, atownof Hindoottan, in theCamatic; 

 13 miles N.E. of Ongole. 



RAPHA, in Anatomy. See Raphe. 



RAPHAEL, one of the feven archangels, who are faid 

 to be continually before the throne of God, and ready to 

 perform his commands. We have no fuch name in the Old 



