RAPE.

King Country Chronicle, Volume VI, Issue 421, 9 December 1911, Page 6

RAPE.

This has proved itself one of the very best fodder plants for lamb-fat-tening. Of the several varieties tried so far, the ordinary Broadleaf Essex is as good as any. In the preparation of the soil the. main aim should be to have it well worked and pulverised. The usual method in the North Islani is to sow the seed and manure with a grain drill in rows seven inches apart, but in the southern disticts of the South Island this practice is being gradually abandoned —the seed and manure being now sown with a double drill ridger in rows 26 to 30 inches apart.

Latterly, this method has been adopted at Moumahaki, and found superior to the old style, as it allows the plants more room to develop, and horse cultivation can be kept up to destroy weeds and assist in the conservation of the soil's moisture. Rape thus handled has proved one of the very best crops for cleaning the land of weeds. One of the most valuable features of rape is its remarkably rapid growth under favourable conditions it will be ready for feeding two months after the date of sowing. If responds very freely to a liberal manuring, and from the extensive experiments conducted at Moumahaki taking a three years'yield from an application of 2j cwt iter are. superphosphate comes out on Lop with 23£ tons per acre at a manure cos! of lis 3d, basic slag slightly second with 2." 2-sth tons per acre at a manure cost of lis (id, steamed bone-dust is third with 2-U tons per acre at a manure cost of 17s 3d, and Maiden Island guano fourth with 22 tons per acre at a manure cost of 12s 2d The average turnip yield from the unmanured crop for the same period was 12J tons.