FOOD 115 



In reference to linseed cakes, it may be remarked that the purchaser 

 should carefully guard himself against the great risk of adulteration. 

 Feeding cakes are of such great value to the agriculturist that the object 

 of supplying them at a price which will attract custom could only be 

 gained in a remunerative manner by adding to the genuine article a con- 

 siderable proportion of useless material; and what is much worse, it has 

 occasionally happened, whether accidentally or not can hardly be deter- 

 mined, that castor-oil beans, mustard seeds, and other highly objectionable 

 and sometimes poisonous substances have been discovered on analysis. 



Roots. — Mangels, swedes, turnips, and carrots, and also potatoes, which 

 may be placed in the same group for convenience, are extremely useful 

 articles for admixture with other articles of food, and they afford an 

 opportunity of varying the diet from time to time. It has already 

 been remarked that raw potatoes in certain conditions are poisonous, 

 and especially is this the case in regard to the skins; consequently 

 potatoes, when used for horse food, should always be boiled. The same 

 precaution should also lie taken when swedes are used. Mangels some- 

 times are used for horse food, and carrots are extremely valuable and are 

 also very favourite articles of food with horses. In consequence of the 

 exceeding fondness of horses for carrots, even in their dirty condition, :t 

 is desirable that they should be washed. Usually they are given whole, 

 a few being- thrown into the animal's manger. Now and then a case of 

 choking has resulted from a horse swallowing large portions too greedily. 

 To avoid this it is sue-o-ested that the carrots should be either sliced or 

 grated; the latter process, however, is far too troublesome to be generally 

 adopted, and in regard to slicing, unless it is very carefully done, some 

 irregularly shaped pieces may escape the teeth and become impacted in 

 the oesophagus. 



Ensilage. — Some years ago the question of the preservation of green 

 crops in pits or silos attracted an extraordinary amount of attention, 

 and a commission was appointed, in which the present writer was 

 concerned, to consider the question. The advantages which were most 

 obvious in this method of dealing with grass and other crops which might 

 be too poor to be worth harvesting in the ordinary way, were the indepen- 

 dence of weather, increased facilities for storing in wet seasons, and the 

 greater portability of the food obtained, as, under the effects of the pressure 

 employed, a cubic foot of grass might be made to represent nearly the 

 weight of an ordinary truss of hay. 



The method of preparation is extremely simple, although in the first 

 instance a large amount of capital was expended in the construction of 

 model receptacles, or silos of wood or bricks, either sunk into the ground 



