424 MONTHLY JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURE. 



about one hour. One of these cakes, with | cvvt. of Swede turnips, and a bushel of straw 

 and hay ch;iff" (vvhicli last is also mixed with linseed mncilafje), is f^iven to an ox in six 

 meals per day. The method of preparing the linseed and chaff is by dissolving 12 lbs. 

 of braised linseed in 240 lbs. of boiling water ; this is poured on straw, chaff", and hay, 

 equal to fifty bushels, in a shallow cistern ; while one person gradually pours the boiling 

 mucilage over the chaff, another person turns and beats it with a beater till the liquid be 

 perfectly absorbed. The expense of feeding an ox in the manner here described is about 

 one shilling per day. The consumption of the compound is gradually increased in quantity. 

 Some feeders give from 14 to 21 lbs. per day, being neai'ly in the same quantities that lin- 

 eeed-cake is given. The advantages derived from the use of the compound over the oil- 

 cake are veiy considerable. The oil-cake costs, on an average, from £10 to £12 per ton, 

 while the linseed compound can be manufactured with either pea, bean, barley, Indian com, 

 or rye meal, at fi-om 60s. to 703. per ton. Again, from the various trials which have been 

 made by practical farmers, of the feeding qualities of the two articles, the advantages are in 

 favor of the compound, weight for weight. The utensils required for manufacturing the 

 compound are a 30 or 40-gallon copper, a hand-mill for crushing the linseed (cost 50s.), a 

 half-hogshead or two, half a dozen moulds, a hand-cup, a three-pronged fork, and a wooden 

 rammer, the whole of which may be purchased for 30s. Mr. Karkeek next described the 

 ^essrs. Davey's system of box-feeding. Their boxes are about nine feet square, sunk three 

 feet (two feet it is said is quite sufficient) below the surface in one continuous excavation, 

 and having slidhig bars between the boxes, and a sliding trough placed in the boxes for 

 holding food and water. The bars and troughs are made to slide upward, as the manure 

 accumulates underneath. Messrs. Davey's cattle had been placed in the boxes and fed in 

 this manner for six weeks, up to Saturday, Dec. 4 ; and there was scarcely the slightest 

 effluvia arising from the dung. From the constant treading of the cattle, the dung becomes 

 so consolidated that at the end of thi'ee months, when it is removed, it is generally cut with 

 a hay-knife into solid cakes about two feet square. The Messrs. Davey having tried the sys- 

 tem only six weeks, cannot speak of its practical value ; but from reports of j)ractical fann- 

 ers of the highest respectability, there is reason to believe that cattle may be easily fattened 

 in this maimer in four months ; besides which there is the advantage of making a rich and 

 valuable manure. Mr. Karkeek went on to say that, having some doubts respecting this 

 method of feeding, he wrote to Mr. James Daubuz, of Offington, near AVorthing, who had 

 pursued the system for some time. Mr. Daubuz's reply was: " I purchased eight Devon 

 oxen at Btu-net Fair, on the 11th of Septembei-, 184C, at a cost, including expenses, of £98. 

 The cattle were examined by a Cornish friend of mine, wlio pronounced them to be a very 

 indifferent lot ; they were in very moderate condition. They had the run of the stubble.s 

 till the 11th November, when they were put into the boxes and fed on the linseed com- 

 pound, manufactjired from linseed, tail-barley, and tail-peas : commencing only with half a 

 cake per day for each ox, and finishing with three cakes — averaging two calves per day 

 They consumed, in this manner, up to the 15th of March, 



Tail-barley. 71 qrs., at 24g £9 



Tail-peas,"7i qrs., at 36s 13 10 



Linseed, 3 qrs., at 56s 8 8 



Total £30 18 



Besides one bushel of steamed hay, half a cwt. of chaff, and one bushel of 

 white carrots or Swedes each per day 10 2 



Total '. £41 



They averaged on their sale £21 63. 3Jd., the total bein°; £170 10s. 4d." Mr. Karkeek 

 w^ent on to obsene that in usuig '' compounds " of this kind, there was the additional ad- 

 vantage of being enabled to consume profitably on the farm a large quantity of offal com 

 which would othei-wise be forced into the maiket, depreciating the value of good corn. Mr. 

 Daubuz, for instance, fed the eight bullocks entirely on offal, barley and peas. In conclu- 

 eion, Mr. Kaj-keek stated that Messrs. Davey had been growing their own flax on some of 

 the land lately reclaimed by them from St. Agnes Common. The fields were four acres, 

 and put into linseed and clover in Api-il last. The crop of flax was a fair average, and that 

 of clover was abundant. But, leaving growing of flax altogether out of the question (al- 

 though there could be no doubt that it might be profitably cultivated, since it was found in- 

 digenous in the county,) there could not be a question of the importance of preparing a 

 cheap material for the manufacture of beef and mutton, whether by cultivating linseed in 

 this county, or by importing it, for the purpose of being formed into a compound with some 

 of the farmer's home productions. 



We learn, by a letter not written for publication, that a respectable and re- 

 sponsible gentleman in the West lately offered to an English firm at Cincinnati 

 "to contract with them for 50,000 barrels of corn meal per year, delivered at 

 New-Orleans at $2 25 per barrel " — the meal to be equal in quality to a speci- 



(824; 



