OATTLE-FEEDiNo.] CATTLE, AND THEIR VARIETIES. [cattle-feedinq. 



tlie veget:ible3 and f^ravy ; while tho lu-ad of 

 tho family consumes the tlosli, to enable him 

 to perform his labour; ami thus, when tho fat 

 is not available, one important soureo of tho 

 fooil of liis household ia dried up. For this 

 reasi)n tho jjrazicr must supply tho whole of 

 his animals iti a fat state to tho consumer. 

 Be it observeil. that it is not tho number of 

 animals, nor their weijj;ht in pounds and 

 stones that he has to consider, but he has to 

 provide for them the means of fattening before 

 they can be brought to tho consumer. 



The j^reparalion of food for the animal, or a 

 system of cooking it, is a very important 

 question; and, we believe, that all that a 

 feeder can wish, is attained by the cooking of 

 linseed. Steaming hay, potatoes, and turnips, 

 was tried very carefully in Scotland, and failed. 

 For cattle, at least, it was found useless, how- 

 ever valuable it might be for pigs. The fat 

 of animals being analogous to vegetable oil, 

 its elements are much of the same character 

 as sugar, starch, and gum ; and no doubt is 



other feeding nuilter, the efTeet was purgative ; 

 and but \'(iw breedi-r.s persevere in tho use of 

 tho seed alone. The demand for tho oil, how- 

 ever, induced the crushing of tho seeds to 

 obtain it, and tho refuse was converted into a 

 valuable food for animals ; while tho portability 

 of oil-cake, its cleanliness, and capability of 

 being long kept, made it a general and de- 

 sirable food, both for growing and feeding 

 stock. The oil abstracted, tho cake contains — 



Water i 10 0,3 



Mucilage WWW 



Albumen and gluten . . . 'Jlil 1 



Oil u-'x', 



Husks o-.j.j 



Saline matter and sand . . . 7-2j 



Good English-made cako has now been 

 thoroughly established as one of the very best 

 fattening products; and the extensive farmers 

 of Lincolnshire, and other places, expend upon 

 a single farm, in one year, as much as from 

 £100 to £500 for this article alone. It is 

 the opinion of some of the most intelligent 



change. The elements of those compounds, 

 severally, are: — 



entertained, by physiologists and chemists, farmers, that when cake can be purchased at 

 that the fatty matter (vegetable oil) in plants, j tho same price per ton, in pounds, that beef 

 is assimilated into animal fat, with very little ! and mutton can bo sold at per stone in 



shillings, it will be paid for in the cattle and 

 animals fed, without reference to the manure. 

 The price of cake, however, depends on no such 

 element of calculation. The demand for it has 

 become far greater than that of the oil ; and, 

 in some seasons, it has been so great, that the 

 former became an object of commerce rather 

 than the latter, and realised as much as twelve 

 guineas per ton. To render the uncrushed 

 seed available by a cooking process, attempts 

 have occasionally been made ; but it has gene- 

 rally been found better adapted for calves 

 than for store-stock or for fattening. "Wliero 

 used at all for the latter purpose, it has only 

 been to supply a deficiency in turnips, when 

 the crops of these have failed, and when tho 

 other has had to be substituted for them. 



Tho most decisive step ever taken in the 

 use of cooked linseed, was by Mr. "Warnes, of 

 Trimmingham, near North A\''alsham, in Nor- 

 folk. He commenced by inquiring into t!io 

 nature of cake, which he found to be nothing 

 more than the refuse of linseed; and imme- 

 diately commenced a series of experiments 

 with linseed, crushed, steeped, boiled, and 

 cooked in various ways. lie also tried the 



665 



This analysis would lead to the conclusion, 

 that any of these seeds are, so far as they are 

 agreeable eating, useful; and when linseed 

 contains as much as seven per cent, of mucilage, 

 ten per cent, of sugar, and fifteen of soluble 

 albumen, its great value for feeding and nutri- 

 tive purposes is at once evident. Tliero was 

 some diillculty in grinding it by ordinary 

 mills, as it clogged up the teeth ; and when 

 givoi to animals, either alone or combined 

 with considerable quantities of corn, meal, or 

 4 q, 



