The Sauk Centre herald. (Sauk Centre, Stearns County, Minn.) 1886-current, 1900-07-12

THE RAPE PLANT.

Popular Ways of Sowing 1t In Vart-
Qua Rcgions-Its Feeding Value,
Concerning dwarf Essex rape, one
of the most valuable and popular for
age plants introduced into the United
States in the last quarter of century,
Thomas Shaw of the Minnesota uni
verslty says in Ohio Farmer: 1t is
probably true that half a million acres
were sown in the United States last
summer-that is to say, enough to fat
ten 100000 head of sheep and lambs
and yet the plant has not been before
the general public in this country fos
more than one decade.
It is one of the hardest of plants
1t is not easily injured by drought o.
wet, by heat or cold although it en-
dures heat less well than cold), and II
has but. few enemies. The cabbage
worm and the white or green aphis
would seem to be about the only enc
mics that prey upon it. 1t will grow
on any kind Of soil that is good and at
all friable, but the richer the land the
better 1t will grow. 1t has peculiar
adaptation for rich muck lands so filed
with humus as to be too rich for pro
ducing good yields Of grain. Usually
the more highly ordinary lands are en-
riched for growing rape the larger will
be the yields.
Rape can be sown any time from the
opening Of spring until the end Of July
in the northern and middle states, and
In the south 1t may be sown later. 1t
usually reaches a maximum of growth
in Is to 90 days from the date Of SOW
ing. 1t yields from 10 to 20 tons Of
food much richer than clover and even
more palatable, and an average crop
will sustain from 10 to .15 head of
sheep or lambs for 60 days. 1t may be
sown on land specially prepared for it
or 1t may be grown as catch crop
after winter rye has been eaten down
after clover has been pastured or
mown and in many instances after
grain crops have been harvested.
A favorite way Of sowing it on prai-
RE lands is to mix one pound of rape
seed with every two bushels Of grain
sown. The seed is then deposited with
the drill Unless in abnormally wet
seasons the rape does not harm the
grain, and after the latter is cut 1t
springs up like magic after harvest
and covers the land with the best OF
sheep pastures.
On soils with much clay in them it Is
usually better to SOW in rows about "a
to 80 inches apart and to cultivate the
crop. On black soils and on ordinary
prairie soils in the Mississippi basin
this is not usually necessary. The seed
is sown broadcast at the rate Of three
to five pounds per acre and is covered
with the harrow. But in the dry and
semiarid regions 1t Is better in nearly
all instances to put it in more deeply
than broadcasting would deposit it.
It makes excellent pasture for sheep,
swine. cattle and horses and has adap-
tation in providing pasture for them in
the order named. 1t is equally adapted
to soiiing uses for these classes Of live
stock. There is probably no better
green food for fowls. but it cannot be
cured for winter use. The important
precaution in grazing it down is not
to allow the animals to feed upon 1t at
will when they are very hungry. as,
like clover. it may produce bloat. The
seed cannot be profitably grown in
northern ATTITUDES, but it may south
ward and also in the extreme west.
The Dwarf Essex variety, about the
only one that should be sown. grows
into seed the next season after plant
ing it.