344 



TJic Country Gcntlcmaiis Magazine 



for cattle food ; it will be observed that it shews a of a rape-cake, adulterated with mustard, which 



fair chemical analysis " : — 



Per cent. 



Moisture 11.22 



Oil 9-13 



1. Protein compounds 29.19 



Gum, mucilage, &c 3°-34 



Woody fibre 12.40 



Mineral matters 7-72 



poisoned three oxen which were fed on it : — 



Per cent. 



Moisture 12.07 



Oil 10.31 



X . Albuminos compounds 34- 02 



Gum, mucilage, &c 29.25 



Woody fibre 7. 38 



2. Ash 6.97 



Containing nitrogen . 

 Containing ammonia. 



100.00 



4.67 

 1.90 



Rape cake is beginning to be appreciated as a food 

 for stock. On the Continent it has long been employed 

 as a manure. Though it is nearly as nutritious as 

 linseed cake, it can generally be purchased at about 

 half its price. Cattle eat it reluctantly at first, but 

 ultimately eat it readily, more especially the kind 

 known as green German rape-cake, of which the fol- 

 lowing is an analysis :^ 



Per cent. 



Moisture 10. 82 



Oil 8.72 



1. Protein compounds 32.81 



Mucilage, gum, &c 28.45 



Woody fibre II-49 



2. Ash 7.71 



I. Containing nitrogen 5.41 



2. Containinc: sand. 



Foreign rape-cake, especially Indian rape-cake, 

 is seldom free from mustard. It has been 

 stated that rape does not grow in tropical 

 countries, and that the so-called rape of India 

 does not belong to this genus at all, but the genus 

 Sinapis. It is certainly true, that rape-cake obtained 

 in these countries is seldom fitted for cattle food. 

 Rape-cake has long been used in Flanders in the form 

 of dust as a manure. In this country, also, it has 

 been largely employed for a similar purpose. Rape- 

 cake may be adulterated with any kind of oil seed, as 

 the oil is less liable to be injured by mixture with other 

 oils. The chief adulteration is mustard. When 

 mixed with molasses, rape-cake is eaten readily by 

 stock of all kinds. It is best suited for store animals 

 and sheep. Boiling water poured over it improves its 

 quality, by preventing the pungent oil of the mustard 

 becomingdeveloped. This should be generally known, 

 as the presence of this volatile oil of mustard in any 

 quantity is highly injurious to the health of the stock 

 consuming the cake. The following analysis is that 



1. Containing nitrogen 5.46 



2. Containing sand .75 



The analysis of this cake shews nothing wrong ; 

 hence we see the analysis alone is not sufficient to settle 

 the feeding value of a rape-cake. The presence of 

 mustard in a cake of this kind may be detected by 

 taking half an ounce of powdered cake and adding it 

 to 6 ounces of cold water in a stoppered bottle, and 

 placing the bottle aside for twenty-four hours. The 

 contents should then be examined, not before ; if the 

 smell of mustard is very strong, it will be scarcely safe 

 to feed with the cake, unless it is stee]3ed in hot water 

 previous to its being given to stock. Smell, however, 

 must not alone be relied on ; as pure rape seed has a 

 strong smell, it must taste strong and bite the tongue 

 — this rape seed never does. 



Cotton cake has recently been added to our list of 

 feeding materials. When first introduced the quality 

 ■was very good ; but we have now many very inferior 

 samples offered for sale. Cotton seed has a hard shell, 

 Ax'hich in most varieties amounts to nearly half its 

 weight. This shell contains no oil — the oil is all in 

 the kernel. It is sold in our markets in a decorticated 

 and in an undecorticated state. The decorticated cake 

 is certainly far the most valuable ; it generally com- 

 mands ^3 or ;^4 per ton more than the whole seed 

 cake ; it contains more nitrogenous matters than cake 

 made of linseed. The following are average analyses 

 of decorticated and undecorticated cakes : — 



Decorticated. Undecorticated. 



nitrogen, 

 sand 



1.65 



In the whole seed cotton cake there is sometimes 

 such a large amount of indigestible fibre present, that 

 animals often die from an accumulation of this matter 



