136 THE DATRTMAX'S MA>sTAL. 



Linseed Oil Meal is now made by what is known as 

 the new process, that of extracting the oil by means of 

 benzine or naphtha, by which the oil is practically all 

 removed from the seed. The old process of pressure 

 between heated plates left eleven to fourteen per cent 

 of oil in the residue. As linseed oil has a laxative and 

 most excellent effect upon the digestive organs, the old 

 process meal was a useful food for fattening cattle, but 

 was not a desirable food for dairy cows on account of the 

 result on the butter, wliicli was wliite, soft, greasy, and 

 of a flat oily flavor. The new process meal is free from 

 some of the objectionable features of the old process meal, 

 and to some extent is useful in dairies, but after frequent 

 attempts to use it with satisfaction we abandoned it in 

 favor of cotton seed meal. At thirty dollars per ton — its 

 present value — it is much dearer than several other foods 

 in the above list which are preferable in other ways as 

 well as for their cheapness. 



CoTTOX Seed Meal, when used in moderation, is a very 

 useful food for dairy cows. It is the reverse of laxative, 

 and tends rather to costiveness. This, however, gives 

 it an especial value when cows are upon grass, or Avhen it 

 is mixed with bran. When it was first introduced in the 

 Northern States as a food for cows — and the author was 

 the first to test it in his dairy, twelve years or more ago— it 

 was sold at eighteen dollars per ton, and was an exceed- 

 ingly cheap food. Since then it has become widely pop- 

 ular, and has advanced in value fifty per cent. Still, for 

 the nutriment it contains, it is cheap, being valued 

 for its nutritive elements at forty-six dollars per ton, as 

 compared with the best clover hay at twenty dollars per 

 ton. It is very rich in nitrogenous substances, and is 

 consequently an unsafe food for cows if fed to excess. 

 The cotton plant possesses some very powerful medicinal 

 qualities. The root produces abortion, and the seed cer- 

 tainly has some of the same active effect upon the uterus. 



