SOUTHEBN CULTIVATOR. 
77 
or green forage, for soiling, is often raised in time to come 
off before the Rape is to be sown. Here, in the South, a 
«rop of oats, or, still better, field peas, would answer for 
such a short crop, and if the peas were fed on the field, 
or turned under while green, they would benefit the land 
as much as a slight manuring. It is always preferable to 
put the manure in before the short crop is raised, as the 
manure then will become better incorporated with the soil. 
Guano also has a powerful effect on the Rape. 
The seed is sown either by drill-machine, which is the 
best way, orbroadcast, and very thin ; half a gallon being 
sufficient for an acre of land. Here, in the South, Septem- 
ber would be soon enough for sowing. Where the Rape is 
drilled, it can afterwards be cultivated with a horse hoe, 
which is a great advantage ; but being sown here, in the 
South, in the latter part of the month of August, or be- 
ginning of September, there is, indeed, very little neces- 
sity for working it, as it will not be much troubled with 
weeds. As the seed is very fine and requires but a slight 
covering, the best way is, to let a roller pass over the 
field, whi^ will press the seed just deep enough for vege- 
tation. (Every farmer can easily, and without expense, 
make himself such a roller from any piece of a log, 5 or 
6 feet in length.) In fact, it should be treated like a field of 
turnips. 
The Rape is very hardy, and will, when planted early, 
stand the winters of New York, particularly when covered 
with snow. 
By approach of spring, say, in this latitude, by the 
middle of March, it will show its flower stems, and in 
about 6 or 7 weeks later it will be ripe for cutting. 
The Rape ripens unequally, and as its productiveness 
in oil is in accordanee to its proper maturity, the cutting 
should always take place when half of the seeds assume 
a brown color. When left too long, there will be too great 
a waste of the seed. 
When raised extensively, the Rape is cut with a short- 
bladed cradle, and as early in the morning as possible, 
leaving a rather high stubble. If dull weather should suc- 
ceed, so much the better; the seed will then ripen more 
slowly and evenly, and contain more oil. When dry 
enough for threshing, all available hands are employed. 
A threshing floor of planks (say 20 feet wide by 40 feet 
long) in a suitable part of the field, and surrounded by a 
plank barrier about 3 feet high to prevent the seed from 
getting wasted. This concern must be moveable, so that 
it can easily be transferred to any part of the field. Where 
the field is large, it is preferable to have two such move- 
able threshing-floors. Waggons or litters, covered in the 
bottoms with cloth, haul the Rape tops and throw them 
in the threshing floor. 
When the whole floor is covered two and a half or 
three feet high with the Rape tops, two or three horses 
are brought in on the floor and driven round until all the 
seed is trodden out. The chaff is then shaken off and 
more tops brought in to be trodden out in the same man- 
ner, it being always desirable to have a thick layer on the 
floor to prevent mashing. When this layer, however, is 
getting too thick for proper threshing, it is put in bags 
and brought home, where a winnowing mill clean it effec- 
tually, after which it is spread out for some days on a floor 
to be dried thoroughly. 
Here ends the work of the farmer, and the seed passes 
into the hands of the oil-millers, who press out the Rape 
oil, so exceedingly useful for burning, greasing and the 
manufactory of soap. 
On many estates in Europe the farmers have their own 
little oil-mills, as the profits in pressing the oil are very 
considerable. Besides, in this case, the farmer also has 
the advantage of keeping the cakes from which the oil has 
been extracted. The cakes are very useful for feeding, as 
well as for manure. I must add, that the gross profit of 
the Rape does not end here, for the Rape straw, when 
burned, makes the strongest kind of ashes, either for 
manure or for the use of soap ; in fact, they are found to 
be so highly preferable to all other ashes that they bear a 
price, as three to one above all other kinds. 
The produce of the best land and by the best manage- 
ment is forty bushels to the acre, the value of which, in 
England, would be from S80 to $90. A bushel of Rape 
seed will yield from 2 to 3 gallons of oil and about 30 
pounds of Rape cakes. 
The consumption of Rape oil here, in America, must be 
very large. Mr. Wjlliamson states that the lighthouses 
alone are using 120,000 gallons annually for burning; the 
quantity needed for greasing engines and other machinery 
cannot be less, to say nothing of soap establishments. 
As the Rape crop here, in the South, would come off 
the land by the middle of May, another crop, (either corn, 
sweet potatoes, or field peas) might be raised, the same 
land thus producing three crops in two years. 
Anxious to draw public attention to this remunerating 
crop, I have made my communication as brief as the sub- 
ject will admit of; hoping that some of our enterprizing 
agriculturaists will give the Rape a fair trial. 
If, however, further particulars should be desired, any 
explanation, as far as my experience may enable, will 
most cheerfully be given. Robert Nelson. 
Macon, Ga., Jan., 1856, 
“PLOWING IN THEE OF DROUTH PHTLOSPHICALLY 
CONSIDERED ’’-AGAIN. 
Editors Southern Cultivator — “J.,” in the Decem- 
ber number of the Cultivator, evidently misunderstands 
the article of “P.," in the August number, from which I 
infer that in attempting to be brief, I became obscure. If 
I understand “J.,” we differ in nothing except in the pro- 
priety of breaking the As for his objections to 
the experiments suggested by me, the experiments detail- 
ed by him, and which, by the way, seem to have been 
conducted with skill, are exactly those I proposed, only 
they cover but half the ground. At least, it seems so to 
me. It would be tedious to go into an explanation of the 
grounds of my notions, and, therefore, I will only, in as 
few words as possible, state my opinion, hoping that I 
may, as the old critic says, “discharge the functions of a 
whetstone, which unable to cut, can make steel cut,” 
Here is my creed, which I expect to hold always: 
1st, That land should be broken deep in the spring — 
the deeper and more thoroughly the better, 
2nd As long as rains continue to fall in a few days 
after being plowed, deep plowing will not do harm. 
3rd. In a dry time, deep plowing does injure a crop. 
And that degree of damage depends on the kind of soil. 
4th. Keeping the surface loose is not injurious, but 
rather beneficial. 
In regard to capillary attraction, “J.” entirely misappre- 
hends my idea. Ido not say that “increased porosity 
gives greater capillary attraction,” nor do I believe it. My 
words are, “now think of the degree of porosity at which 
this attraction will go on.” “This hint will be sufficient 
for those acquainted with the laws of Natural Philoso- 
phy.” That “J.” understands these laws is evident, for 
he states the law truly. The idea I intended to convey is 
this : some people think that by plowing land in dry 
weather, the moisture is made to rise. But “J.” and 
“P.” do not think so. Their knowledge of the law of 
capillary attraction teaches them that making the land 
more open, makes it less able to raise moisture from be- 
low. 
