66 THE NUTRITIVE VALUE OF DIFFERENT OIL-CAKES, 



difference? It is, no doubt, owing, in a great measure, to a 

 difference in composition that a different practical result follows 

 the application of linseed-cake or rape-cake, or any description 

 of cake which is used for fattening purposes. Whilst I attach 

 considerable importance to the composition of oil-cakes and 

 other descriptions of food in general, I am bound, at the same 

 time, to observe that the mere composition of food does not fully 

 give you an idea of its applicability for feeding or fattening 

 purposes ; for I can well imagine the case of two articles of food, 

 presenting little difference in composition, having a very different 

 effect upon the constitution of animals. One kind of food may 

 contain a small ingredient which is extremely injurious, or 

 another kind of food may be in such a physical condition as to 

 be indigestible. Thus we must not merely be guided by theo- 

 retical considerations in forming an estimate of the value of food ; 

 it depends likewise on whether the food is digestible or not. 



Now, with respect to the difference in the value of oil-cake, I 

 would observe that the physical condition in which the cake is 

 offered in the market influences the nutritive value of cake more 

 almost than any other circumstance. The fresher the cake the 

 better it is adapted for fattening purposes. Old, mouldy cake, 

 on account of its physical condition, often does mischief when 

 given to animals. You know very well what effect stale or 

 mouldy bread, which has been ill preserved, has upon the human 

 constitution, and you do not always bear sufficiently in mind 

 that animals have a stomach as well as man. The stomachs of 

 animals are affected by food as well as yours, and in order to 

 bring on animals rapidly, you must flatter their taste a little. 

 You must, to a great extent, give them what they like, and if 

 they reject food by natural instinct, in nine cases out of ten you 

 might depend upon it that there is something in the food which 

 is injurious to their health. Thus, generally speaking, you find 

 that the best cake is liked best by animals, and there is no doubt 

 that this is the reason why English or American barrel-cake is 

 preferred by practical feeders to the cake from the Continent. 

 These foreign cakes, for which a ready sale is not always found, 

 are often kept in the warehouses for a long time, until they get 

 mouldy and damp, and when they are given to animals in this 

 condition they do little good; whilst well-made English cake 

 finds a ready sale, especially in the North of England, but it has 

 not so good a sale as I should like to see in this part of the 

 world ; as I feel convinced that oil-cake is one of the most useful 

 and excellent articles of food that can be given to animals. 



Another circumstance which is to be taken into consideration 

 in estimating the nutritive value of different oil-cakes is the pre- 

 sence or absence of foreign seeds. Tn foreign cakes there exist 



