Bismarck weekly tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1884-1943, 1893-06-23

RAPE.
Professor Thomas Shaw Of tho Ontario
Agricultural COllege Writes of II.

Professor Thomas Shaw Of tho Ontario
Agricultural College Writes of 1t.
1t bears a close resemblance to the
Swcde turnip in the early stages of it's
growth, but it usually attains a greater
height than the turnip and produces
moro stems and leaves. It has afusiform
and stringy root, while that of the tur-
nip is dubious. On average soils, when
grown in drills, it usually reaches the
height of from l to 2 feet, but on soils
very rich in vegetable matter it some
times attains the height of at least 8
feet. There are several varieties of rape,
but the only kind grown as q pasture
in this country Is known as the Dwarf
Essex.
Like the turnip. rape is adapted to tenn
crate climates. In all probability it will
be found to grow in temperatures that
are inclinedto be cool rather than warm.
It seems to grow more vigorously in our
climate In the late rather than the early
summer, and it continues to grow until
the time of severe frosts when not ma
tured at an earlier period. It is scarcely
probable that rape will live through the
winter in this latitude and yet retain
sufficient vigor to produce a crop of seed
the following summer as in Great Brit
ain.
When the rough leaf has made a good
start in the rape, the %cultivator may be
introduced. It should run as close to
the line Of the ows as is consistent with
the safety of the plants, and the cult
walton should be frequent until the tops
of the rape have made a near approach
between the ows When the land is
fairly clean, no hand hoeing is required,
but when it is foul it will be necessary to
go along the line Of the drill with the
hand hoe once or twice to remove weeds,
which need not of necessity cost more
than 81 per acre. No attention is given
ordinarily to thinning rape.
Rape is an excellent pasture for sheep
and lambs and for cattle that are being
fattened, and so far as we can Judge
from our limited experience it will also
furnish good pasture for swine. The
nutritive ratio Of green rape as given by
Wolf is 1879, while that of red clover in
blossom is only 1853.
The extent to which rape may be grown
as a catch crop is only limited by the de-
sires Of the farmer and the nature of the
season as to the presence or absence Of
moisture. It may follow any grain crop
that has been reaped early and that has
been sown with grasses or clovers. In
1891 we grew rape in drills on 2.18 acres
of land which had already produced an
extraordinary crop of wheat. Sixty lambs
were pastured on the rape grown upon
it for 25 days without any additional
food. The aggregate increase in live
weight was at the rate of 179 pounds per
acre, which at 5 cents per pound gives
$685. a. the food value Of the rape with
out considering the increase in value Of
the original weigh: of carcass.
AS a cleaning crop we have foundnone
that will compare with rape in all round
effectiveness. On soils suitable to its
growth almost any of the more n%oxious
| forms of weed life can be e~radicated in a
single season with wise management,
except in so far as the seeds remain in
the ground.-Dakota Farmer.