CHOU MOELLIER.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1356, 6 February 1912, Page 8

CHOU MOELLIER.

STATE FARM EXPERIENCE. A good deal has been written of lute concerning chou moellier, and another contribution appears in the Agricultural Department's latest publication which states that Mr. M'Connpll, manager of the Riiakura Fuxm of Instruction, thinks a. great deal of the plant a= a fodder crop. It has stood tlie test of rough and unfavourable weather better than tho maizo (which had to be resowu), millet, Soya beans, mangels, carrots, and cowpeas planted in tho same field. Though plants of the cabbage tribe, of which chou moellier is a member, are supposed to require abundant humus, tho crop in question has made splendid progress in a held where humus is practicalfy non-ex-istent. Mr. iU'Connell does not agree with the advice as to time of feeding the French cow-cabbage usually given— that is, when fully matured. He thinks the plant should be fed before the stalk becomes woody, so that the whole of the plant is palatable to stock, instead of when tho plant is allowed to mature, having then only the leaves available. Again, when fed before being fuUy matured, the plant will not havn taken so much out ot the soil. Ho believes'that sheep would do well on chou moellier if turned on in the younger stages of the plant's growth. An advantage of chou moellier is that it may be planted a* early av September .In cultivation the plant should be treated as an ordinary ro'it crop, the individual plants being singled out to not less thnii 211. apart, the rows being 3(lin. wide. A line crop vi; Tiiiakur'a was manured at the rate of 2icwt of Ihs'c slag iewt. of boncdiist, and iiflib. of 'sulphate ot potash per acre. This is not a heavy .dressing for ihe land in which the crop is growing-a heavy loam, rather poor m character, and Toting „„ an iron J.ian which in places comes nearly to the surface. Experiments in regard to t'»> iceding-vnlup ol chou moellier arc („ i, P coiulucl«l at Ruakum. Two acres are under the crop this season