Oil-bearing Seeds and their By-products. 155 



tein than old-process oil meal because the oil is more completely ex- 

 tracted. 



199. Value of oil in linseed oil cake. — To determine the value of 

 oil in linseed oil cake, Cooke^ of England conducted a test with 2 

 lots of 30 sheep each. To the first was given cake containing from 

 6 to 7 per ct. oil, and to the second lot cake containing from 15 to 

 16 per ct. oil. The roughage was the same for both lots. During 

 the 16 weeks of the trial the sheep fed on the cake rich in oil gained 

 nearly 5 lbs. more per head and also brought a higher price than 

 those fed cake low in oil. The conclusion was, "Weight for weight, 

 linseed oil to the extent of 16 per ct. in a cake has a much higher 

 feeding value than the other constituents which in the absence of 

 oil replace it." 



200. Linseed oil meal as a feed. — There is no more healthful feed 

 for limited use with all farm animals than linseed oil cake or oil 

 meal, with its rich store of crude protein, slightly laxative oil, and 

 its mucilaginous, soothing properties. Its judicious use is soon ap- 

 parent in the pliable skin, the sleek, oily coat, and the good handling 

 quality of the flesh of animals receiving it. A very limited quan- 

 tity, 0.5 to 1.5 lbs. daily, of oil meal may be fed to horses with ad- 

 vantage, but its heavy use makes a soft flesh. (422) For dairy cows 

 1 to 2 lbs. daily will improve almost any ration. (640) For fatten- 

 ing sheep one-fourth or one-third of a lb., (754) and for steers 2 to 

 3 lbs., (538-9) can be given daily with advantage, the meal tending 

 to regulate the system and ward off any ill effects from the con- 

 tinued use of heavy concentrates. For calves ground flax seed or 

 oil meal is quite generally used by progressive dairymen. (480) A 

 handful of oil meal in each feed of the growing pig will advertise 

 itself in the sleek coat and improved appearance. (871) 



Unfortunately the American farmer insists that oil cake be ground 

 to a meal. He should adopt the wiser practice of European farm- 

 ers, who buy oil cake in slab form and reduce it in cake mills to the 

 size of hickory nuts or smaller just before feeding. In such form 

 this feed is more palatable, and there is no chance for adultera- 

 tion. 



201. Soybean, Glycine liispida. — The soybean is one of the most im- 

 portant agricultural plants of northern China and Japan. So great is 

 the production of this seed or grain in Manchuria that already that 

 country is annually exporting hundreds of thousands of tons to 

 Europe, and the western coast of America is gradually becoming a 



' Jour. Eoy. Agr, Soc, 1889. 



