i65 



seeds, dirt, &c. In some instances, foreign substances have been 

 found to a very considerable extent, analysis showing as much as 2*45 

 per cent, of sandy matter and 23-40 per cent, of foreign seeds. 

 Therefore, in using linseed in any form, these obnoxious bodies should 

 be screened out. Linseed may be used after having been boiled, or 

 steeped in hot water, or crushed into meal. A Horse recovering from 

 chest or bowel complaints is very much benefited by a little being 

 added to boiled barley and bran. For a Cow, it may be given boiled, 

 or crushed and mixed with the other food. For a Calf, it is generally 

 boiled, or steeped, and mixed with milk. 



385. Linseed Cake. — This cake is made from a variety of seeds 

 grown in different countries. Russian seed makes the best cake, and 

 Bombay the next — that is, if regard is had to the amount of oil they 

 contain respectively. There are, of course, a good many inferior makes 

 of linseed cake, as of other cakes, as can be gathered from the physical 

 appearances of the various brands on the market. There is also a 

 great difference of quality in what are called pure linseed cakes. 

 Undoubtedly, the best, and those most entitled to be classed as pure, 

 are those manufactured from genuine seed that, previous to crushing, 

 has been passed through a closely-meshed screen, which takes out all 

 the impurities, such as small weedy seeds, dirt, &c., called screenings. 

 Some manufacturers, however, do not put themselves to the trouble 

 of taking these out, but simply crush up the seed as they receive it. 

 It sometimes happens that a cake-maker comes across a fairly clean 

 parcel of seed, and gets a name for making a good cake, through the 

 good fortune of having had this lot tested, but the next lot of seed 

 may be faulty, and yet this cake will be called genuine linseed cake, 

 being made from the seed as imported, and without any admixture. 

 It must, therefore, be understood that there is a considerable difference 

 in the relative merits and value between the cakes made from screened 

 and unscreened seeds. 



386. A good screened sample of linseed, and linseed cake made 

 therefrom, should show an analysis something like the following : — 



