492 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
July 22 
Must Be on Clean Land. 
My experience is limited to the spring sowing of 
clover alone, and it was a partial failure on account of 
there being so many weeds in the first crop. I have 
sowed it in the fall on wheat, but it was a failure be¬ 
cause it did not get start enough to stand the winter. 
From these two experiments I should say that if clover 
were sown early enough in the fall to get a good 
start, and on clean land, it would be a success. Why 
shouldn’t it ? We sow it in the spring on fall-sown 
grain, and it makes a comparatively weak growth, and 
at the hottest part of the season we cut the grain that 
has been shading it, and, on account of this shading, 
has caused it to make a weak growth, and expose it 
to the effect of the full power of the sun, often when 
there is very little moisture in the soil, yet we get 
good crops in that way ; why shouldn’t better be 
grown by giving it the whole area of soil ? They can, 
I believe, but what will be the answer to the usual 
question, “ Will it pay ?” a. l. crosby. 
Pays Well at the South. 
I have tried the fall seeding of clover both in Ohio 
and here, in East Tennessee, and tried it alone and in 
connection with fall seeding of grain. In Ohio the 
practice met with very indifferent success ; here, how¬ 
ever, it is a decided one. I have always thought that 
if it could be sown in the fall and go through the 
winter safely, fall seeding would be preferable to 
spring ; hence my efforts both in the North and here 
to make it a success. My experiments lead me to be¬ 
lieve, however, that it is surer as well as more profit¬ 
able to seed with wheat in the fall for these reasons : 
the wheat protects the very young clover plants just 
when they need protection, and by the time the wheat 
is cut the clover is matted all over the ground and can 
defy drought which is so dangerous to spring sow¬ 
ing. My usual method is to sow it with my wheat 
in October, using a seeder on the drill and sowing in 
front of the hoes. By this plan I have never failed to 
get a very excellent stand and, being thick and well 
rooted, as soon as the wheat is removed, it begins to 
grow, and can be cut for hay or seed later in the sea¬ 
son, or, if preferable, can be mowed and left as a 
mulch and fertilizer on the land. I prefer to remove 
it, however, as the clover plant then does not need it 
as winter protection in this climate, and I find more 
profit in feeding it and returning the fertility in the 
shape of manure or “chemicals.” I have mowed a 
ton per acre of good hay from my wheat stubble by 
this method of seeding. 
As an example of what fall sowing will do in this 
climate, last season, owing to drought, we could not 
get our wheat land prepared in time for early sowing, 
hence were compelled to seed late or not at all. I 
finished November 24. I was afraid to risk my whole 
crop of clover so late with seed at $9 per bushel, lest it 
should winter-kill, but I determined to carry on my 
experiments and in the face of my neighbors’ ridicule, 
I sowed about five acres of the wheat with clover—in 
front of the hoes as usual. Last winter set in early 
and was the most severe ever known in East Tennessee, 
the mercury going below zero seven nights, and I 
expected my little clover growth to succumb. But 
now (July 3) when wheat lias been in the barn for a 
week after having stood in shocks two weeks, where 
sown in the fall the clover is knee-high and coming 
out in bloom and not a weed can be seen in it, whereas 
the spring sowing is only six or seven inches high and 
there are in it many rag wc eds, and it will have to be 
mowed down and left to lie on the ground. Last sea¬ 
son, on a small field of oats, I failed to get a stand by 
sowing in the spring, and as soon as possible after the 
oats had been removed, with a spring-tooth sulky har¬ 
row I harrowed the stubble and sowed clover seed 
behind it. The shattered oats (being winter turf oats) 
volunteered sufficiently to make about a third of a 
stand, but there was enough to shade the clover during 
the dry, hot weather of September. This clover came 
through all safe and was cut when in bloom and with 
the oats makes as fine a hay as I wish to feed. So 
long as I shall continue to farm in the Sweet Water 
Valley, I shall always sow my clover in the fall. 
North of central Kentucky it might not be safe to risk 
fall sowing, as a rule, but south of that point, T would 
recommend fall seeding, either alone or in connection 
with grain, as by far the safest and most profitable 
method of handling clover. If sown for a hay crop 
the ensuing year, I would sow a few oats with the 
clover to afford shade during the fall. e. l griffin. 
Crimson Clover Again. —I sowed about half an 
acre of Crimson clover last year. It made a good 
catch, and stood the winter well. I cut it for hay 
about June 1, and it was good. I do not know how it 
would do for green manure, but think it would do 
well, as it is fit to be turned under in time for corn or 
potatoes. I think it should be sowed early here in 
New Jersey, say about the last of July, in order to 
get well rooted before cold weather. e. a. y. 
PRACTICAL TALKS ABOUT RAPE. 
Farmers Who Have Fed It. 
THE QUESTIONS. 
1. Is It a profitable crop to grow for Bbeep ? 2. Do you grow it after 
some other crop ? How late can It be sown ? 3. Do you turn the sheep 
on to pasture it ? 4. Have you ever cut and fed it green in the barn '! 
5. Have you fed It to other live stock ? 0. Can you advise sheep men 
generally to raise rape ? 
For Soiling Show Sheep. 
1. It is a profitable crop for late feed. 2. I do not 
grow it after any other crop. 3. No. 4. I cut and 
feed it green in the barn when fitting sheep for show 
purposes. 5. I have not fed it to any other kind of 
stock. 6. I would advise all sheep men to grow it. I 
have a piece that will cut six or seven tons to the acre 
now that is green, and it will grow much larger, and 
sheep like it and fatten fast on it. It would do well 
to sow it in June to turn lambs on it in November 
when there is no other green feed. I sowed mine 
May 1, to be cut in August. It makes just such feed 
as cabbage, etc. w. A. mccoy. 
For Lambs it is Great. 
In my estimation there is nothing equal to it. I 
have grown it for several seasons, for the purpose of 
cutting and feeding it to a few sheep which were 
being prepared for the show ring. 1 usually sow the 
seed as early as May 10, in drills 30 inches apart, and 
cultivate two or three times when the plants are well 
up. I have broadcasted it in April, with clover and 
Timothy, for pasture, but have not had good luck n 
sowing as late as July. I would advise sowing it in 
May for pasture for lambs when taken from their 
dams, and think there is nothing equal to it for fat¬ 
tening the young sheep. I have fed but little to other 
stock ; cows do not care for it at first, but will soon 
learn to eat it. English rape grows very fast, and 
yields a large amount of green feed to the acre, and 
can be cut and fed in the barn or grazed. It can be 
sown early or as late as July, unless the weather is 
dry. If very dry, the seeds do not grow, and for this 
reason I have not had good luck with it when sown 
late. I think the time is not far distant when every 
sheep-owner will sow more or less rape for pasture 
for lambs through August, September and October. 
Breeding stock would be likely to get too fat if given 
all they would eat, but for lambs it is splendid. 
Fargo, N. Y. a. bardwkll. 
English Methods for English Mutton. 
1. It is a profitable crop for me, principally because 
it gives me an abundant supply of succulent food at a 
fine in the fall when, owing to my having 200 to 300 
imported sheep on hand, besides my breeding flock, 
pastures are short and I am in want of feed. I find 
that 1 can get as much feed from one acre of rape dur¬ 
ing the two months from September 1 to November 1 
as from three acres of pasture. 2. It can be sown as 
late as July 20, as it will grow and be fit for sheep feed 
in six weeks, and it can be sown after any other crop, 
as rye, wheat, or even early oats, but I usually 
find it best to put it upon clover sod. I plow the 
sod in May and cultivate it thoroughly until some time 
from June 25 to July 5, when I have it in fine tilth, 
and then I sow the rape broadcast, using about five 
pounds of the Dwarf Essex seed per acre. It is custom¬ 
ary to sow it after other crops in drills, three feet apart, 
but, by having the ground well prepared, I have been 
able to grow a larger and more satisfactory average 
by sowing broadcast. Six weeks from the time of 
sowing it will stand three feet high, and be so thick 
that the sheep will not go into it except as they 
eat into it. 3. Yes, and the only precaution in this 
respect is that the sheep should not be hungry when 
they are turned upon it, as they are very fond of it, 
and, should the rape be a little wet, they are as liable 
to bloat as when they are turned upon wet, green 
clover, but no more so. I turn them on after they 
have had their fill of some other kind of feed and when 
the rape is dry, and then I keep them on it continu¬ 
ally until it is eaten down. I usually have about 10 
acres of clover and five of rape, either in the same or 
adjoining fields, so that they can run upon both at the 
same time. They will eat the clover for a time, and 
then the rape. I have never heard the question raised, 
but my experience has been that they will do better if 
they have clover and rape at the same time. I find it 
a good crop for ewes during the breeding season in 
the fall, and have rarely had a ewe fail to breed when 
pastured upon it then, and they will gain rapidly in 
flesh. It is an especially desirable crop for starting 
fattening sheep in the fall. 4. Yes, I feed it to the 
show sheep in the barns as a green crop, the same as I 
do oats, peas and other green crops, and I have found 
it very satisfactory. The English grow it extensively 
for this purpose. The sheep are very fond of it and 
gain flesh rapidly when fed on it. I have never fed it 
to any other kind of live stock, and I doubt if there is 
anything else that would care for it. This also answers 
the fifth question. 6. Men who can make a success 
of raising sheep will do well to raise each year a few 
acres of rape, and men who are not willing to grow 
these extra green crops for feed for their sheep, and to 
have the fuss and bother which rape, roots, etc., entail, 
will never make a success in any but the smallest way 
in raising any of the English mutton breeds of sheep. 
It is on just such crops as these that these sheep have 
been brought to perfection in their native country, 
and, if we expect to hold them up here, we will do 
well to follow closely the English methods. Rape is 
a crop that is as easily raised as buckwheat, and is 
equally good for cleaning lands of foul stuff. There 
is no danger of any bad effects from raising it," as it 
will not seed the second time if the Dwarf Essex seed 
is used. Five acres of rape and five of ordinary clover 
pasture will keep 100 Shropshire sheep for 60 days. 
Paw Paw, Mich. geo. e. breck. 
Three Hundred Lambs Six Weeks on Eight Acres. 
1. I believe rape is so far as profitable a crop as any 
I have raised. 2. Here in western New York some 
sow it after other crops ; they cut their clover as early 
as possible—the last of June—and fit the ground as 
soon as they can. Others sow it after early peas that 
have been picked for canning. I have put the crop on 
ground used for it alone. I believe it should be sown 
about June 20 in this section, though some sow as late 
as July 15. 3. Yes. 4. I have never tried feeding it 
to sheep green in the barn and don’t believe that is 
the proper way to feed it. I have never used any ex¬ 
cept to fill my siloes and it is the cheapest feed I know 
of fed as ensilage in the barn. 5. I have tried it 
only for sheep and lambs. 6. I think that would de¬ 
pend on what a sheep man is feeding for. If for fat¬ 
tening, I should say, yes. My experience with rape 
is limited. Last fa’l I put 300 lambs bought in Buffalo, 
about the middle of September, on eight acres of rape 
and it lasted them about six weeks and they gained 
nicely, and I was well satisfied with the experiment. 
They were nearly ready for market when put in the 
barn. I could have put them in the same condition 
by feeding some grain in the field. A good deal of 
care should be taken in getting sheep or lambs on 
rape, for there is great danger of their bloating, 
especially in wet weather or during heavy dews in the 
mornings. There is a great difference in the seed ; 
there is one kind that is nothing but Bird rape, that 
goes to seed in a short time and makes very little feed. 
The Dwarf Essex I believe to be the best, when it can 
be obtained. I buy mine in Canada. It is cheap, as 
only about four pounds are required to the acre when 
sown broadcast and about two pounds sown in drills, 
which I believe is the proper way to sow it. 
Batavia, N. Y. john e. y'OUNG. 
Not Later Than August 1. 
1. It has proved very profitable thus far, especially 
during seasons of drought, furnishing a late very 
nutritious fall pasture for lambs after they have been 
weaned and for ewes that are thin in flesh. 2. It is 
best grown the second crop from a clover sod, and 
can well follow the next year either corn, oats, peas 
or barley. To insure a good crop it should germinate 
quickly after being sown; the soil should therefore 
be made both rich and fine by thorough tillage, and 
about six pounds to the acre of seed be broadcasted 
and harrowed once after it has been sown. The sow¬ 
ing in drills and cultivating afterward I consider 
wholly unneee:saiy and a waste of time. One year 
with another, 1 think that about August 1 is as late 
as it can be sown with any degree of certainty of pro¬ 
ducing a crop ; and May 20 is about as early as it can 
be sown here in western New York. 3. Yes; but it 
is better to allow the flock to have access to grass past¬ 
ure also. The better way at first is to turn the flock 
on the rape when they are not hungry, as from their 
love for it too much may be eaten and bloating fol¬ 
low. Turn them on when it is about one foot high, 
and at first only an hour each day for two or three 
days, when they can be safely allowed to eat all they 
want of it; but as sheep love variety of food and do 
far better when it is furnished, they should not be 
compelled to subsist wholly on it. 4. I have never 
fed it in that way ; but I consider it practical to do 
so, and that it is fully equal to any other green food 
for that purpose. 5. Only in a small way to cows. 
They relish it, but 1 hardly think it practical to feed 
it to milch cows. Like the turnip, I think the milk 
would taste of the rape. 6. Yes; but be sure to sow 
the Dwarf Essex seed, and not the German or Bird 
rape, as it is nearly worthless for feed and difficult to 
get out of the soil, as it will soon ripen and the seed 
will remain in the soil. The Essex will not seed in 
this country. As far as my experience goes, there is 
no other green food that will grow and fatten lambs 
as fast as rape. Any soil that will grow corn and flat 
turnips will produce it. The richer it is the larger 
the growth of the rape, q. d. smead. 
