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LINUIYI 

 USITATISSIMUM 

 Linseed 



'i/iiiKx/t nww in Plants, in .!<// /. J"nni. ////., i., pt. iii., 225) on a poisonous PoUonow 

 l>ro|>ert\ at times possessed by the linse,<>d plant. He mentions a case Irqp * 1 '' 

 \\ hens cattle ato some iiumatuio linseed us fodder with the result that 

 tiftv two <1 ifd in a few hours. A specimen of the plant sent for examination 

 contained a cyanogenetic glucoside, and yielded prussic acid when crushed 

 in water. 



/ IXSEED AND UNSEED OIL. The seed obtained from the culti- 

 te.l /.. iisitutisxiiiniiH is known as LINSEED, the oil expressed there- 

 ii is LINSKKD-OIL, and the cake LINSEED-CAKE. 

 The object being to promote flowering, not to produce long, straight, Races. 

 fibre-yielding stems, the seed is sown much thinner than is generally the Thin sowing. 

 <asc \\ it h Kuropean lla.x. The result of this special cultivation has been to 

 p several well-marked RACES, all of which possess one characteristic 

 a much-branched stem. There are two readily recognised kinds, namely 

 white -seeded and a red-seeded, and of each of these at least two grades white and ud. 

 th either " bold " or " small " forms of the seed. The latter may be only c de8 * 

 ndition of defective cultivation or immaturity of crop, but commer- 

 y the bold seed is the form of greatest value. The subject of the 

 tivated races of linseed is, however, too imperfectly understood to allow 

 more being at present said regarding them than that many distinct 

 s exist. It would, therefore, be the most obvious course to pursue, 

 any attempt at new developments of the linseed traffic, to improve 

 stock by careful selection in the direction desired, rather than to at- selection. 

 pt the acclimatisation of exotic stocks. It is well known that the 

 lity and yield of oil varies greatly in the seed of one country as 

 pared with that of another. The white-seeded form has usually white-seeded 

 ite coloured flowers, the brown-seeded blue flowers. Moreover, the Porin8 - 

 ite seed has a thinner shell, and contains nearly 2 per cent, more oil 

 an is the case with the red. These facts have led to many inquiries 

 as to the white-seeded plant being grown separately and the seed 

 t into the market pure. The demand for such pure seed has never, 

 owever, been so large and constant, nor the hopes of increased price 

 sufficiently encouraging, to tempt producers to give the attention to the 

 subject that would be necessary. Moreover, it is said that the quality Condition 

 indicated is not constant. In other words, under altered conditions, the u 

 ite-secded plant may produce red seed and thus frustrate the produc- 

 m of a pure crop. [C/. Leather, Effect of Change of Climate on Amount 

 Oil in Linseed, in Agri. Journ. Ind., 1906, i., pt. iv., 413-4.] 

 Area under Linseed. Very often linseed is grown as a mixed crop, Area. 

 ing sown along with other oil-seeds and the two reaped together and 

 in the production of well-known blends of oils. At other times 

 ed constitutes lines through or borders to other crops, so that the 

 greatest difficulty often prevails in determining the actual area under the 

 crop. This is more especially the case in the United Provinces. But 

 when grown mixed, the crop is all but universally intended for home 

 markets, the crop grown for export being usually pure. 



To the Natives of India a drying oil is of no consequence since they do Drying OIL 

 not require an oil with that property, hence the frequent admixture with 

 mustard-oil seed, which greatly reduces the value of the produce from 

 the standpoint of a drying oil. But such admixture is more often than 

 not accidental, through produce being purchased that was not intended 

 for the foreign market. Voelcker (Improv. Ind. Agri., 1893, 285) discusses 



725 





Mixed oils. 



