100.000

With respect to the value of rape for the feeding of stock in spring,
Mr. Rham makes the following remarks:--

If the crop is very forward it may be slightly fed off, but in
general it is best to let it remain untouched till spring. In the
end of March and the beginning of April it will be a great help
to the ewes and lambs. It will produce excellent food till it
begins to be in flower, when it should immediately be ploughed up.
The ground will be found greatly recruited by this crop, which has
taken nothing from it, and has added much by the dung and urine of
the sheep. Whatever be the succeeding crop, it cannot fail to be
productive; and if the land is not clean, the farmer must have
neglected the double opportunity of destroying weeds in the
preceding summer, and in the early part of spring. If the rape is
fed off in time, it may be succeeded by barley or oats, with clover
or grass seeds, or potatoes, if the soil is not too wet. Thus no
crop will be lost, and the rape will have been a clear addition to
the produce of the land. Any crop which is taken off the land in a
green state, especially if it be fed off with sheep, may be repeated
without risk of failure, provided the land be properly tilled; but
where cole or rape have produced seed, they cannot be profitably
sown in less than five or six years after on the same land. The
cultivation of rape or cole for spring food cannot be too strongly
recommended to the farmers of heavy clay soils.

_The Mustard Plant_ is occasionally used as food for sheep, for which
purpose its composition shows it to be well adapted. Voelcker's analysis
proves it to be very rich, relatively, in muscle-forming elements and in
mineral matters; it might, therefore be with advantage combined with
food relatively deficient in these principles.

COMPOSITION OF FRESH MUSTARD.

Water 86.30
Albuminous matters 2.87
Non-nitrogenous matters (gum, sugar, oil, &c.) 4.40
Woody fibre 4.39
Ash 2.04
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100.00

_The Prickly Comfrey_ has been recommended as a good forage p