OIL-BEARING SEEDS AND BY-PRODUCTS 141 



not well adapted to dairy cows, corn stover having a higher feeding 

 value. 



Flax seed and linseed oil manufacture.— Over 95 per ct. of the flax 

 seed crop of the United States is produced in jMinnesota, the Dakotas, 

 and Montana. Because of the valuable oil it yields, flax seed is rarely 

 used for feeding stock other than young calves. Well-matured flax 

 seeds contain no starch, the reserve plant food being stored largely as 

 oil and pentosans, instead. 



The oil of the flax seed is either extracted by the "old process," 

 thru crushing and pressure, as in the production of cottonseed oil, or 

 by the "new process," when it is dissolved out of the crushed seed with 

 naphtha, the residue in either case being called linseed oil meal, linseed 

 meal, or simply oil meal. In the United States nearly all the linseed 

 oil meal is made by the old process. 



In the manufacture of new-process oil meal the crushed and heated 

 seed is placed in large cylinders or percolators, and naphtha poured 

 over the mass. This drains out at the bottom carrying the dissolved 

 oil. After repeated extractions all traces of the naphtha are driven off 

 by letting steam into the percolator. 



Old- and new-process oil meal. — Since the oil is extracted much 

 more thoroly by the naphtha process, new-process meal contains only 

 about 2.9 per ct. of oil or fat, but carries slightly more digestible pro- 

 tein. Old-process meal is preferred by feeders, since it apparently 

 has a more laxative action and a more pronounced effect in making the 

 coats of animals soft and sleek, due probably to its higher oil content. 



Linseed meal as a feed.— There is no more healthful feed for limited 

 use with all farm animals than linseed cake or meal, with its rich store 

 of crude protein, slightly laxative oil, and its mucilaginous, soothing 

 properties. Its judicious use is soon apparent in the pliable skin, the 

 sleek, oily coat, and the good handling quality of the flesh of animals 

 receiving it. It is therefore very useful as a conditioner for run-down 

 animals and in fitting animals for shows. A small amount is helpful in 

 the rations of horses and dairy cows. Opposite in effect to cottonseed 

 meal, linseed meal tends to produce soft butter. Fed to fattening 

 cattle, sheep, or swine, the meal regulates the system and helps to 

 ward off ill effects from the continued heavy use of concentrates. Kich 

 in protein and all the necessary mineral elements, linseed meal is well 

 suited to growing animals. Owing to its popularity, this feed is often 

 expensive compared with other protein-rich concentrates, and it is 

 then not economical to employ it as the chief source of protein in the 

 ration, but to restrict its use to amounts sufficient to produce the 

 diesired tonic and regulative effects. 



