VALUE OF RAPE

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 358, 19 May 1928, Page 25

VALUE OF RAPE

AN ESTABLISHED CROP More than 100 years ago the value Df rape to the sheep breeder was recognised by many British farmers. At that date there was comparatively little demand for fat lambs, and the forage as fed to older sheep, but it was valued as a soil improver, when fed on the land, as much as for its fattening properties. In Scotland, rape was used to a considerable extent for bringing the breeding ewes into condition, just before they were put to the rams, and its value for this purpose is recognised wherever it is cultivated. In New Zealand rape is mainly used for lamb fattening, and there is no other annual crop so suitable for this purpose. It may also be used with the greatest success as green manure In order to consume rape as economically as possible, sheep netting must be brought into use to divide the paddock into small temporary breaks, anu the lambs should not be allowed to run back over the breaks that have already been eaten down. They must be fenced off, so that the rape will make a second growth as rapidly as possible. Tlie first break consumed should be ready for consumption a second time as soon as the last break in the paddock is eaten off.

Every calf is born with certain inherent and inherited possibilities (says a writer in the “Farmers' Advocate”). Her breeding determines the extent of her possible production and profit for her owner, but her feeding and care determine the extent to which these possibilities will be developed. Thi? is the reason why, when certain dairy farmers get hold of heifers that have been underU' 1 they can make them more profitable ti->on have been previously; but even the most expert feeding and care cannot make up for all the lost opportunities that occurred durir? calf hood and lieiferhood.