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Show GROWING RAPE. Reply it Nathan Rlnfloer, Grover HIM, Ohio. "How id rape as a cattlo feed for milch cows, and what tlmo Is best to sow? How are soy beans for cattle, and what Is the tlmo to sow here? Would like to know if alfalfa ma'tcs a good pasture it sowed for milch cows, as the clover Is all frozen out here this prlng." Rape Is best adapted to cool climates, cli-mates, but still does exceptionally well In a very wide range of latitude, it has been grown successfully In parts of Mississippi, and all the way north Into Canada. It does best and develops de-velops the most rapidly on rich, moist, loamy soils, although It will do fairly well on light, sandy boIIs If they are in a good state of cultivation. Rape is a very heavy feeder, and requires a great deal of moisture. It also utilizes n considerable nmout of nitrogen as well ns mineral plant food elements. It requires practically the Bamo plant feed as corn, In very nearly the sanio porportlons, and for this reason corn does not do so well following rape us some other crops, for Instance, wheat. The soil should be prepared In much the same way as for corn; In oficr words, It should be In n good stato ot cultivation before planting the rape. There are several ways of planting this crop, depending upon conditions. Some farmers prefer to drill It In rows and cultivate It. This method Is not generally followed, but gives vory good satisfaction. The usual method Is tn sow broadcast some time nlong from the first of May to the mlddlo of July, cither -on land specially prepared, on land following an early crop, orlntb' growing corn field. The uBtial amount of seed required per aero varies from four to five pounds. Under favorable conditions, rape Is ready for pasture from fifty to seventy days after sowing. We hove known I of Instances where It would afford good pasture six weeks after planting but this Is unusual. Rape has a very high feeding value, and Is considered an excellent feed for , fattening sheep and Bwlno. It grcntly increases tho flow of milk from milch cows. Some farmers object to It because be-cause they claim It taints the milk. To ovorcomo this objection, It Is well to feed rape nftor milking. It Is a very valuable feed for other stock.. Sheep and hogs are usually bcttcT than other kinds of stock for pasturing on ' rapo. Tho best way to feed cattlo and horses 1b to uso vnpe as a soiling crop. In several states they have experimented experi-mented with mixing rape with oats or wheat, und have succeeded very well. In Iowa a pound of rape was sowed per ncre about ten days after seeding 'tho oats. The rapo Interfered to some extent in harvesting tho oats, but probably would not have caused ' any trouble If It had been sowed three weeks nftcr tho oats wcro planted. If tho land Is very poor, It probably would be best to sow tho rapo with the small groin. Speaking of the uso of soy beanB, will soy tlmt this crop Is grown verv succesfully In parts of Ohio, and ranks very closo to clovers and nlfnlfn for hny. Tho variety known ns medium green will mnturo seed In from ninety to one hundred days, and is considered nbout the best variety for most locall-' ties. Tho Itn San Is a quicker moti'r-Ing moti'r-Ing variety than tho medium u'e-" but does not uroduco quite ns much forage to the acre nor quite ns many peas under tho same conditions Among tho other varieties aro tho medium yellow nnd tho medium early black, but these aro not ns gen-! crally grown ns the ones mentioned j nbovo. If you expect to grow soy bcana fo-sced, fo-sced, the best success can bo obtained by drilling In rows from twenty-eight to thirty Inches npart. This will require re-quire nbout n hnlf biiBhol of seed to the ncre; when drilled twenty-four Inches npart, three-qunrters of j buBhel of seed; nnd, when drilled with the ordinary grnln drill, seven or eight Inches apart. It will require about two bushels of seed to tho acre. When drilled as close as seven or eight Inches the hay produced Is of a bettor qunllty, not being so coarse ns when the rows nre wider. From tho standpoint stand-point of tho production of forage, (hero Is not a great deal of difference In the vlold per acre, whether the rows are drilled eight Inches apart or twitv-fonr. Theie may bo some troublo In curing cur-ing rv been hay, but If the weather rondlt'ons nro favorable, thoro need bo no less while curing. Soy beans ns a ciop do very well In ordinary soils, but will respond much better if tho seed bed Is thoroughly prepared. This plant Is a shallow feeder, and thus wl'l do better in fields that hr " b thoroughly cultivated than It v...' under ordinary conditions. Speaking ot alfalfa for posture, will say that nlfalfa sowed this sptlng should not be pastured before nt leant a year from this summer, and preferably pre-ferably a year from next fall, so you cannot hope for any pnsturo from alfalfa this coming season. For pasture pas-ture under the condition you give, the growing of rnpe or Bomo of tho cereals combined with rape, Is probably about as good n thing as you can figure on at this time. |