AND THE SUBSTITUTES FOR OIL-CAKES. 69 



barrel cake has been sold even at a higher price than English 

 cake. I believe this is the true secret why American barrel 

 cake is so highly esteemed by those who have tried it, in com- 

 parison with other cakes ; or rather, I should say, not in com- 

 parison with other cake, for it will not do to compare one kind 

 of cake in a different physical condition with the same kind of 

 cake in another physical condition. If you compare two cakes 

 of equal freshness, and equally well-preserved, I have no hesita- 

 tion in saying that you cannot find out any difference between 

 English and American cake. I have carefully examined two 

 equally good kinds of linseed-cake. 



COMPOSITION OF LINSEED CAKE. 



English Cake. American Cake. 



Water 13-20 11-64 



Oil 10-30 10-43 



Woody fibre 12-90 14-26 



Albuminous compounds (flesh-forming substances) 29'75 24-01 



Mucilage, gum, &c. (respiratory compounds) ,. 28*23 34*44 



Ash 5-62 5-22 



100-00 100-00 

 Containing phosphate of lime and magnesia (bone 



earth) 2-78 2-90 



Alkaline salts 1'86 1-90 



Sand and soluble silica .. .. '98 - '42 



Both were excellent, and closely resembled each other in compo- 

 sition, but, if anything, the English cake is superior to American 

 cake, inasmuch as it contains a little more of flesh-forming sub- 

 stance. However, we must not draw too nice a distinction. I 

 have, therefore, no hesitation in saying that well-made English 

 cake will stand comparison with any cake, no matter where it is 

 produced. It is therefore injudicious on the part of the farmer 

 to pay I/, per ton more for American barrel c?ke, if he can get 

 an English cake in equally as good a condition. 



With respect to other cakes I may observe that, although the 

 composition of many of these cakes, lately introduced into the 

 market, resembles intimately the composition of oil-cake, yet their 

 practical effect is a very different one. There is the cotton- seed 

 and poppy-cake, both of which contain a large proportion of 

 flesh- forming constituents. As regards their power of acting on 

 muscle they are quite as good as linseed-cake, but they are not 

 so well adapted for fattening purposes. They are poor in oil, 

 and, moreover, do not contain so much starch or mucilage as 

 linseed-cake. I believe we must apply greater refinement to our 

 analyses of articles of food. In most analyses of food the amount 

 of indisgestible fibre of woody matter is not mentioned at all. 

 But it is a very important consideration to determine the amount 

 of indigestible fibre, for if you have it in excess it may render 



