The Sauk Centre herald., 1909-04-29
CATCH CROPS
Valuable Information Given Out for
the Benefit of the Minnesota
Farmer

Furnished by the Minnesota Farm
ers' Institutes, st. Anthony Park, |
st. Paul, Minn.)
The term catch crop is used for any
crop grown that is not regularly plan
ned for certain field, that is, it is
put in where another crop has failed
or after another crop has been remov-
ed from the land Millet sown where
corn or other grain crop has failed or
rape sown with grain crop or after
grain crop, or in corn at the last culti-
vation to furnish fall feed. is catch
crop.
There are three great advantages
in catch CROPS and reasons why their
use should be extended first, they
furnished very cheap feed; second,
they grow in place of weeds; third,
they improve the condition of the soil
by adding vegetable matter, especial
ly if pastured off or plowed under.
OF all these crops rape is probably
the best, as the seed is very cheap, it
grows quickly and furnishes excellent
pasture for all animals with the posi-
BILE exceptions of milch COWS. Rape
makes a good growth for pasture in
about six weeks after sown, if sown
alone. 1t may be sown successfully
with grain crops when they are sown
or shortly afterwards. When sown in
this way it is used for fall pasture
The seed costs but about Is cents per
acre, hence furnishes very cheap pas
turage.
Chas. Nelson of Meeker County,
soWed rape and clover in sixty acres
of grain in the spring of 1907, and
that fall pastured his herd of 20 COWS
two months on this field, getting
from the creamery s225.OO in cream
checks for the two months, which
brought him over three dollars per
acre from his field after getting the
regular grain crop. The crop took
the place of weeds. The whole of the
crop was left on the field. While
growing after harvest it used the
available plant food in the soil which
otherwise would have been largely
lost by teaching, and thus left this
plant food in the soil in the form of
vegetable matter that will be easily
broken down next year and while
being broken down or rotting it will
help to liberate the mineral plant
food locked in the soil. Such a crop
adds considerable to the income from
the field the year it is grown and leay-
es the soil in better condition for
crops in succeeding years.
| c. w. Hale, a large farmer of Fill
more County, sows several hundred
acres of rape each year with his grain
crops. In the fall he buys several car
loads of sheep to eat off this crop and
report that he gets from 80 cents to
$500 per acre extra each year after
getting his regular crop of corn or
grain. This certainly is an advantage
over getting nothing from the estubble
fields and allowing them to produce
weed seeds.
When land is very rich there is
some danger that the rape may grow
too large in the grain and cause trou-
BILE in harvesting and curing the crop.
In such cases it is well to SOW the
rape after the grain is up, thus giving
the grain a considerable start. The
rape may be scattered in the field any
convenient way, as by hand or with a
hand broadcast seeder. 1t may be
scattered in with a weeder or left un-
til rain comes which will start it.
When it is sOWn at the same time as
the grain crop, it of course is mixed
with the grain, and in such case there
is no cost for sowing.
A. ID. Wilson.