Bismarck weekly tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1884-1943, 1900-04-06

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HOWT0RAISERAPE$
81 HOW IT SHOULD BE b
~ FED. {


Rape is a hardy plant and can be
sown any time from very early spring
until after harvest, according to the
wants of the stockman, says Professor
W. A. Henry in The Breeders Gazette.
get the largest and most nutritious
crops it should be sown in drills and
the same as a root crop, with
this important exception, however-no
thinning is required. Where drilled
SOW from two to three pounds of seed
per acre. Rape may also be sown
upon we'll prepared land, in
which case it should be covered lightly |
with q fine tooth drag or q brush har-
row. When ~broadcasted, from four to
five pounds of seed should be used per
acre.
Some farmers have received satisfac-
tory returns by sowing rape seed on a
field planted with oats or barley. In
this case the best method Of procedure
is as follows: A week or ten days after
the oats or barley have been sown. and
just after the young plants have shown
above the surface Of the soil, SOW two
to three pounds Of rape seed per acre.
Harrow this in with a light fine tooth
drag. Covering the seed in this man.
ner does not injure the young oat or
barley plants, but is a help rather than
otherwise. BY sowing later than the
oat or barley seeding the young rape
plants are held in check and do not
make much growth until after the
main crop is harvested. Then, having
the benefits of full sunshine and all
available moisture, the young plants
spring forth rapidly and soon furnish
a large amount of feed. Farmers who
have sown rape seed along with oats
or barley have found, to their sorrow,
that in wet seasons the rape plants
grow as tall as the grain and furnish
so much green material as to make
trouble in harvesting the grain. The
later seeding Of rape with grain is
therefore to be recommended as the
preferable practice.
In sections Of the country where the
seasons are fairly long stubble fields
may be plowed up and sowed to rape
and a great deal Of forage secured be-
fore winter sets in. No matter how
the seed may be sown the hardy plants
spring up quickly, and during the early
growth n cannot tell them from ruta
baga or Swede turnips. When they
reach a height Of eight or ten inches,
they can be pastured by any kind Of
stock. Rape is most suitable for sheep,
with pigs second. or course the young
plants are quite watery; Is they grow
older the nutriment is more condensed
and satisfactory.
So far us known to the writer, the
only insect pest attacking the rape is
q louise, which severely Injuries it in hot,
dry weather. This pest is sometimes
avoided by planting the rape leither
very early or very late.
Care must be taken to order forage
rape, for many mistakes have been
made by seedmen who have furnished
oil seed or bird seed rape instead.
These latter varieties furnish plants
which blossom about eight weeks after
the seed is sown. A field of bird seed
rape in bloom resembles q field Of wild
mustard, the yellow blossoms being
visible from a long distance. The true
forage rape does not blossom the same
season the seed is sown, but bears its
blossom and fruit the second year, the
same as the cabbage and ruta baga.
Bird seed rape does not become a pest
like wild mustard, but since the leaves
are small, like mustard leaves, there
is little or no feeding value to the crop.
In ordering seed be sure to specify the
Dwarf Essex forage rape. The seed is
imported from England or grown in
the northwestern United States near
Puget sound. It costs from 4 to 10
cents per pound, according to the guam
tity ordered. It can be obtained from
any reliable scotsman.
Rape is not harvested and cured like
hay OF other forage plants, but should
be fed off in the green state. 1t can
be cut and carried to the stock. In
this case the amount the animals re-
ceive a be limited, and there is no
danger Of bloat, which is practically
the only ource Of trouble in it's use.
Generally stockmen turn their animals
directly into the rapetield, allowing
them to feed at will. Where the great
est returns are sought portable fences
are used to limit the animals to a given
area. Where lands are cheap there is
no need of taking so much trouble, the
stock being allowed to oar over the
field at will. The only danger in the
use Of rape, as stated above, is from
bloating, which trouble is not always
easily avoided. Animals should not be
turned into the rapetield for the first
time until they have been well filed up
on other feeds. Experience and exper-
iments have shown that it is greatly to
the advantage Of stock to have q pas
ture field Of grass adjacent to the rape
teld, SO that the animals can feed on
one or the other, as appetite and condi-
tons dictate. When pasture is availa-
BILE, bloating will rarely occur, the an
imals wisely protecting themselves by
mixing their feed Of grass and rape in
stead Of consuming too much rape.
@ nor,u~d Nn. Pom.