63 DOMESTIC ANIMALS. [Chap. I, 



we may fairly expect three fourths of the nitrogenized matters of oil-cake back 

 again in the manure ; and perliaps we are safe, likewise, in asserting that 

 fully one half of the money value of rape and the best cotton cakes is ob- 

 tained back again in the manure. So we nmst not put down these constit- 

 uents, which are called nitrogenous, as useless, because they alone do not 

 produce much butchers' meat ; nor must we estimate the value of oil-cake 

 entirely by the increase in the live weight of cattle fed upon the cake, but 

 also, and chiefly, I believe, by the increased value of the manure which is 

 produced through the instrumentality of oil-cake. 



92. Bone in Food. — " I will now direct attention to the inorganic matters 

 or ash of oil-cakes. These inorganic matters may be called bono material ; 

 for the ash of oil-cakes is particularly rich in phosphates of lime, or the ma- 

 terial of which the greater part of the bone is composed. Now, the large 

 proportion of oil ; next, the large proportion of flesh-forming matters ; and 

 third, a considerable proportion of bone material are characteristics that 

 confer a particular value upon oil-cake, either directly as food, or indirectly 

 as useful material for increasing the value of farm-yard manure. For let me 

 observe, that oily matters and substances that make butchers' meat are the 

 most valuable constituents in all feeding materials, and therefore also in an 

 oil-cake. On the other hand, the flesh-forming constituents and the bone- 

 forming materials — in other words, the nitrogen and the phospBates of the 

 cake — are the two most valuable fertilizing constituents. We have thus in 

 oil-cakes, in a concentrated state, materials that produce butchers' meat, 

 and, at the same time, yield the most valuable fertilizing constituents. There 

 is no other description of food which unites these useful properties. 



93. Linseeil-Cake. — " Ton are all aware we distinguish chiefly the follow- 

 ing kinds of linseed-cake : English cake, American cake, and foreign cAkes. 

 Among foreign cakes there are various descriptions. There is the Baltic, 

 the Marseilles, the Naples cake, and various others. Wc have here an ex- 

 cellent specimen of good English cake. The English cake is made now of 

 two qualities, thick and thin cake ; the latter is made in imitation of the 

 American barrel cake,' of which specimens are before you. You observe 

 how closely the thin English cake i-esembles the American barrel cake. The 

 latter has gained much favor, and therefore the manufacturers in England 

 have found it to their advantage to imitate the form in which it is sold. In 

 the first place, notice that the American cake occasionally is as bad as 

 English and foreign cakes. It is not every description of American cake 

 which is good, but generally speaking, as it comes into the market, espe- 

 cially the barrel cake, it is of a very superior character. But the question 

 whether it is generally superior to the English cake or not, is one which is 

 not very readily decided ; you may get English cake quite as good, if not 

 better, than the American cake. 



'• Some years ago it was the fashion to buy the English cake in preference 

 to any other, but it is now the fashion to buy the American barrel cake. I 

 can only account for this by the fact that the English cake, being produced 



