It is a custom in some places to follow a grain crop with rape without plowing. In such cases a disk-harrow set to cut well and to lap one-half will provide a seed-bed in which seed may safely he sown. If the season is favorable a good crop of fall pasturage can thus be secured. A corn-field after the last cultivation is sometimes used as a seed-bed, and where the rainfall is sufficiently heavy and the corn not too thick, good crops may be secured. However, the season is an exceptional one in which this method will meet with success, as the corn crop usually makes use of all the sunlight and moisture that are available.
Another method which has proved very success ful in some sections is to sow rape with oats. The rape in this case should be sown one to two weeks later than the oats, to give the best results. If the rape is sown at the same time, it is likely to grow as rapidly as the oats, causing great inconvenience in cutting the grain and sometimes producing moldy bundles. Because of the great succulence of the leaves, they are slow in drying. When the rape seed is sown a week later than the oats, it can be harrowed in with a light smoothing harrow without much damage to the oats. The oats thus get well along before the rape starts and at harvest time very few of the rape leaves get into the bundles and no damage results. After the grain is cut the rape comes on rapidly, and in the course of three or four weeks sheep may be turned on it.
Varieties. There are several varieties of rape, some of which make good forage and others of which do not, so that in ordering rape seed it is necessary to designate the kind. Experiments at various experiment stations, notably at Ottawa (Canada), Wisconsin, Minnesota and Michigan, have demonstrated the Dwarf Essex rape to be the best variety for forage purposes. If seed-growing for purposes of oil production is contemplated, then seed of some annual variety should be sown.
Seed.—The rate at which the seed is to be sown depends on the seed, the soil and the method of sowing. The seed should be well developed and give a strong and vigorous germination. Before ordering the bulk of seed for sowing, it is well to request one or more dealers to send samples of seed. These can then be examined to see whether there are any weed seeds or other impurities in the seed, and germination tests can be made. [See article on Seed-testing, page 141.] Rape seed that will not give a germination test of over 90 per cent should not be purchased. The seed weighs
sixty pounds to the bushel and can be purchased in quantities for about five cents a pound.
Seeding.—Rape seed is sown in drills or broad casted. When broadcasted, the seed should be sown at the rate of three to four pounds to the acre, de pending on the physical condition and fertility of the land. It may be sown to advantage with a grain drill, set to sow the proper amount, or with a hand seeder if the field is not too large.
When sown in drills, rape should be seeded at the rate of two or three pounds to the acre, and the drills should be thirty inches apart. The rape can then be cultivated and its growth will be more rapid. It should be cultivated often enough to keep down the weeds, and after every rain to conserve the soil moisture. The seed should be sown with a hand drill of some kind, or it may be sown with a grain drill by stopping the intervening holes in some way and leaving open those which are the proper distances apart. This is the best method of sowing, as when stock is turned on the rape the tendency is to keep between the rows and much less of the rape is trampled on and wasted. The plants remain upright until nothing but the stem is left, and if the stock is then removed for a time a second growth of leaves appears and often a third growth. This is seldom the case when the rape is broadcasted, as the plants are injured by trampling.
If the land is exceedingly rich, the seed can be sown more heavily than on soils of a poor grade, and this point must be considered in sowing. It is well not to sow the seed too thin in any case, as the forage is likely to be coarse and not so pala table. If rape is to be raised on very low ground, the seed should be sown on raised ridges, leaving opportunity between for good surface drainage. On ordinary soils this has been found to be un necessary.
Place in the rotalion.—Rape can be used almost anywhere in a rotation of crops, taking the place of the cultivated crop, such as corn, roots or pota toes. When grown by itself in this way the land should be free from weeds if the seed is broad casted. If sown in drills, the land may be kept clean by cultivation. Rape may also be used, when sown broadcast, as a nurse crop for clover, for when the rape leaves are eaten off the clover begins to shoot up. Many good catches of clover have been secured in this way.