Farm and Garden.

Alexandra Herald and Central Otago Gazette, Issue 404, 4 February 1904, Page 2

Farm and Garden.

ORIGINAL ARTICLES, BAPE A USEFUL FORA&EPLANTi 3RSKAPE seed may bo sown at different dfUfg seasons. The time of seeding wiU depaad.largely on the time of year the crop is wanted for feed-? ing purposes. When sown in early spring, it will usually be ready for pasturing in about eight weeks. Some people have obtained very large yields by cutting the. crop rather than pasturing it. But it should not be cat too close to the ground, for if that is done the plants oftentimes fail to produce a second crop. If cat four or five inches above the ground as many as three crops a season oan be had from one seeding. When seeded in early spring it may either be sown in drillß or broadcast, usually the best results are obtained when drilled in rows from two to two and a half feet apart, just wide enough to allow a cultivator to pass between the rows. If cultivated two or three times the .weeds are kept down and the rape will make a much more rapid growth. If drilled, about two poundß of seed per acre should be used, but if broadcasted use double that amount, and the best variety to grow is the Dwarf

Essex. Sometimes farmers have been deceived in buying rape seed, and have got a kind that did not make much growth and blossomed early. Eape will grow very well on a variety of soils, but the largest yields and most satisfactory results are obtained when it is produced on a rich soil containing a liberal amount of vegetable matter. When sown alone and in spring more rape will be grown than is possible by any other method* as oftentimes three crops per season can be obtained by such a practice. Many farmers have succeeded in getting two crops off the same ground by sowing rape seed with oats or iu the cornfield at time of last cultivation. Such a practice is frequently followed by good results, but if the season be very dry the rape may not make much growth. When sown with oats the moat common praotice is to mix the rape seid in the seed box with oats and drill both at the same time; about one and a half pounds of seed per acre should be used; on very rich soil it might not be advisable to use more than one pound of seed per acre. The rape plant will make a fa'.r growth until the oat crop is harvested, when it will* grow very

rapidly arid furnish an abundance of good pasture for sheep, hogs, or young cattle. I When grown in -the cornfield the seed I should be sown just before the last eul- , tivation. 3ow about two and a half pounds of seed per acre. That method is occasionally more satisfactory than to sow with oats, but either method may prove very profitable. Rape is net like clover or cowpeas in being able to obtain its nitrogen from the air, and consequently iis not so valuable as a fertiliser. The I roots of the rape plant go down into the subsoil and in tlafc way they bring fer- ! tility to the surface soil. Some people grow rape for that purpose" only, but most people grow it, for its [value as a forage crop. Bape is an excellent food for sheep, hogs, and cattle, and when carefully fed to dairy cows good results can be obtained. To those who have never tried the rape plant, we advise them to sow a little and be convinced that it is one of the most nseful forage plants the farmer can grow, • ,

CROSS BREEDING. ! After the removal of the stamens from a sufficient number of selected flowers all other portions of the head are torn off asd rejected. Having previously selected ahead of the variety or species which is to serve as the male, flowers are sought for which contain anthers fully matured and covered with pollen. Then the individual flowers which have been prepared for fertilisation are opened again in succession and the soft feathery pistil is gently touched with one or more of the' pollen laden anthers from the j other variety until a perceptible quantity jof the fertilising powder has been applied, when the flower case is again closed. After all the flowers in a prepared head have been operated on, it is wrapped in thin paper and so secured by tying as to prevent the possibility of acsess of other pollen. As a purther precaution the covered head is tit en tied to a piece of stick of bamboo cane .where it remains untouched'until harvest time, when any kernels which have been formed will be mature and may be safely gathered, Each kernel when sown the following season will form the starting point of a new variety. If the cross has been successfully made the grain obtained from the plant of the first year's growth, when sown the next season, will usually produce several different forms, some resembling one parent and some the other, while other plants will produce heads more or less intermediate in character. After selecting the most desirable type or types from a cross all other forms are discarded, and only those retained from year to year which are true to the type or types selected. After several seasons of careful selection . the type usually becomes fairly permanent. Yaiiitions will, however, still in some cases frequently occur, thoße should be watched for and separated whenever they appear if the new grain is to be preserved true to the chosen type. In efforts to cross cereals many failures may be looked for, and with all the trained skill twhich hands can bring to bear on the work; the ripened kernels are always few compared with the number of flowers operated on., A partial record of the crossing which has been done on wheat shows that from one thousand six hundred and fifty flowers, carefully worked, only two hundred and twenty kernels were obtained—about one in every eight. I ,