RAPE.

Feilding Star, Volume XV, Issue 67, 16 September 1893, Page 2 (Supplement)

RAPE.

Professor Thomas Shaw of the Ontario As^lculturnl College Writes of It. .. It bears a close resemblance to the Swede turnip in the early stages of its growth, but it usually attains a greater height than the turnip and produces more stems and leaves. It has a fusiform and stringy root, while that of the turnip ia bulbous. On average soils, when grown in drills, it usually reaches tho height of from 1 to 2 feet, but on soils Very rich in vegetable matter it sometimes attains the height of at least 3 feet. There are several varieties of rape, but the only kind grown as a pasture in this country is known as the D\yarf Essex. Like the turnip, rape is adapted to temerate climates. In all probability it will be found to grow in temperatures that are inclined to be cool rather than warm. It seems to grow more vigorously in our climato in the late rather than the early summer, and it continues to grow until the time of severe frosts when not matured at an earlier period. It ia scarcely probable that rape will live through the winter in this latitude and yet retain sufficient vigor to produce a crop of seed the following summer as in Great Britain. When tho rough leaf has made a good ■tart in the rape, the cultivator may be introduced. It should run as close to the line of the rows as is consistent with the safety of the plants, and the cultivation should be frequent until the tops of the rape have made a near approach between the rows. When the land is fairly clean, no hand hoeing is required, but when it is foul it will bo necessary to go nlong the line of the drill with tho hand hoe once or twice ro remove weeds, which need not of necessity cost more than $1 per acre. No attention is given ordinarily to thinning rape. Rape is an excellent pasture for sheep and lambs and for cattle thnt are being fattened, and so far as we can judge from our limited experience it will also furnish good pasture for swine. Tho nutritive ratio of green rape as given by Wolf is 1:2.9, while that of red clover in blossom is only 1 :5.8. Tho extent to which rape may be grown as a catch crop is only limited by the desires of tho fanner and the nature of the season ns to the presence or absence of moisture. It may follow any grain crop that has been reaped early and that has been sown with grasses or clovers. In 1801 wo grew rape In drills on 2.18 acres of land which had already produced an extraordinary crop of wheat. Sixty lambs were pastured on the rupe grown upon it for 25 days without any additional food. Tho aggregate increase in live weight was at the rate of 179 pounds per acre, which at 5 cents per" pound ffives $8.95 as the food valno of the rape without considering the increase in vulue of the original weight of carcass. As a cleaning crop wo have found none that will compare with rape in all round effectiveness. On soils suitable to its growth almost any of the more noxious forms of weed life cau be eradicated in a single season with wibo management, except in so far us the seeds remain in the ground.- - The Sheep I.ouso. The sheep louse ia also known as tho red sheep louse. Its head is of a red color and the body of a pale yellow, marked with dark bands. It is generally fuund on tho sides of the neck and on the inner parts of the thighs and tho arms. It causes much irritation, and the sheep manifest much uneasiness. Sheep that have been dipped regularly each year are freo from lice as well as ticks. Persian insect powder is sure death to all insect life with which it comes in contact. It is cheap and would be a good remedy for the lice. The insect powder can be used to hold the lice in check till the sheep can be dipped after shearing. A lotion composed of the following will kill lice: Lard, 1 pound; flowers of sulphur, 2 ounces, and creosote, 20 drops. This is not the insect that produces tho scab, but it will cause the Bheep to pull Jh^gir wool, and they will not thrive. Idve Stock rolnt*. An excellent system is that adopted at some of the agricultural colleges by which the young students take a score card and judge of an animal according to figures on the card. The parts of a horse or cow are all ticked off and named upon tho card, with a scale of figures indicating the degrees of excellence. , . The young farmer or live stock student takes the card, examines the beast all over and sets down in the blank spaces the figures which he judges belong there. Then the professor takes the card and reviews the youth's knowledge of the subject and sets down his marks opi>oßite that youth's name. In this way students will learn to judge at sight of the weight, qualities, etc., of all farai animals and will not be taken in in buying. They will also be fitted in a scientific way to become judges at agricultural fairs. The time is coming when the successful farmer or live stock man will need to bo a graduate of an agricultural college to hold his own in his occupation. Ignorance, superstition and old hunkerdoin will no longer go in the farming and live stock business. JEWEL NOVELTIES. Not much is said of the moonstone, but it etill commends itself to* peoplo of refined tastes. Surpliced dresses that are coining in will give an impetus to necklaces. Gold collars with network depending toward a point will be a stylo that will become thifi sort of gown. Some exquisite buckles and slides have been prepared. One shown on a belt of heavy ribbed cream silk wus a solid renaissance design in raised work of gold and pale blue enamel. Words fail to convey an idea of the artistic jewelry, especially in necklaces, made from irregular pearls, semiprecious stones, generally opaque, set in gold. The designs are usually Indian or at least eastern. ~~ ' *-••■-'-