Vol. LIV. No. 2376 
NEW YORK. AUGUST 10, 1895. 
$1.00 PER YEAR. 
FEEDING RAPE TO SHEEP. 
HOW TO MAKE CHEAP WOOL AND MUTTON. 
A New Crop for American Farmers. 
We have had considerable to say in the past two 
years about the value of rape as a food for sheep. 
Early this spring - , Prof. Shaw gave our readers the 
facts about it, and urged them to try it. It is too late 
now to talk about sowing it, but the facts about 
feeding it may be of value to those faithful ones who 
took Prof. Shaw’s hint, and may make such a dent on 
the memories of others that they will start in time 
next year. The pictures given on this page are 
taken from the excellent report of the Wisconsin 
Experiment Sta¬ 
tion. That wide¬ 
awake Station 
has made it 
clear to the farm¬ 
ers of Wisconsin 
that the rape crop 
offers one solu¬ 
tion of the great 
problem—how to 
produce cheap 
mutton! Rape 
has been fed to 
sheep there ever 
since 1891, with 
the best success 
last year. 
Rape may be 
called a turnip 
that has grown 
all to top. The 
leaves are thick 
and large, but 
the root is fibrous 
and has no re¬ 
semblance to the 
bulb of a turnip. 
The plant is a 
rank grower, 
does best on 
warm, friable 
soils, rich in or¬ 
ganic matter. At 
the Wisconsin 
Station, the seed 
was drilled in at 
the rate of about 
three pounds per 
acre. Withbroad- 
casting, more 
seed is needed. 
Sowing the third 
or fourth week in 
June, gives the 
most certain 
crop. It is a good 
plan to sow at 
different times, 
so as to have a 
succession of 
crops. For ex¬ 
ample, the breed¬ 
ing flock might 
have pasture on 
a piece sown early 
in June, while for 
fattening lambs, 
early in July 
would serve to 
prolong the pas¬ 
ture. As a rule, 
it does not pay to 
sow the rape with 
other crops. 
The rape is not made into hay, but fed green. It is 
either cut and carried to the pasture where the sheep 
eat it as shown at Fig. 168, or left to grow in the field 
as at Fig. 169, which represents a rape field in August. 
In the latter case, the sheep are turned r'ght into the 
field to gnaw the rape down to its roots. At the Wis¬ 
consin Station, half an acre of rape was cut and fed 
to a flock of sheep. The first cut was made August 
16, and the cutting continued till September 17, giv¬ 
ing the sheep all they needed. In this month the 
half acre yielded 9% tons, or at the rate of 19% tons 
of green fodder per acre. To show what is done by 
means of the grazing system, the Station reports that 
on October 13,1893,16 wethers were turned into a rape 
FEEDING RAPE AS A SOILING CROP TO SIIEEP IN PASTURE. Fig. 168. 
RAPE AS IT GROWS IN THE FIELD TEN WEEKS AFTER SEEDING. Fig. 169, 
field containing about seven-tenths of an acre. They 
ate the rape off in 25 days, and also consumed in that 
time 153% pounds of oats, and 97% pounds of corn. 
In the 25 days of feeding, the wethers gained 149 
pounds. Charging the oats and corn at market prices, 
and also estimating the value of the mutton gained, 
that field of rape paid $10.14 or $14.48 per sere. 
On August 15, 1894, 21 wethers were turned into 
one-half acre of rape. This rape was sowed June 18, 
in drills 30 inches apart—three pounds of seed to the 
acre. It was cultivated twice. In the 10 weeks of 
feeding, they also received 1,439 pounds of grain, and 
gained 413% pounds in weight. Figuring grain and 
mutton at fair prices, the half acre of rape paid $10.12. 
Alter these weth¬ 
ers had eaten this 
rape completely 
off, they were 
turned on an¬ 
other piece which 
was sowed July 
6, and thus had 
two weeks more 
of good pasture. 
These facts and 
the picture will 
give a fair idea of 
the value of rape 
for sheep feeding 
The plant is not 
considered of 
much value for 
other live stock. 
Prof. Craig, who 
conducted these 
experiments,says 
that there are 
two dangers to be 
guarded against 
in feeding rape— 
viz., bloating and 
diarrhea. When 
first turned on, 
the sheep are 
liable to eat too 
much. During 
the first week of 
feeding, the 
sheep should be 
watched. For 
bloating, a sug¬ 
gested remedy is 
liquid ammonia, 
one teaspoonful 
in three times as 
much water. 
Repeat every 
hour until the 
swelling is re¬ 
duced. In bad 
cases, the sheep 
must be lapped 
to let out the 
gas. The best 
plan is to have a 
pasture adjoin¬ 
ing the rape field 
so that the sheep 
may pass from 
one to the other 
at will. There 
can be no doubt 
as to the value of 
this plant for 
green food for 
sheep,and Ameri¬ 
can farmers 
should utilize it. 
