POULTRY FEEDS AND FEEDING 



duced some years ago. The oil of flax seed may be re- 

 moved either by crushing and pressure, which method is 

 called the old process, or by dissolving the oil from the 

 crushed seed by the use of naphtha, giving as a residue 

 new process oil meal. The term linseed meal, oil meal, 

 and linseed oil meal are all used interchangeably. Nearly 

 all the linseed meal produced in the United States is pro- 

 duced by the old process and called old process linseed 

 meal. 



A test to determine whether the oil meal is made by the 

 old or new process may be easily made by putting a level 

 teaspoonful of puverized meal into a glass, adding lo 

 teaspoonfuls of boiling hot water and stirring the mixture 

 thoroughly. If it is the new process product the meal will 

 settle in one hour, leaving clear water on top, while if it 

 is old process meal the solution will remain jelly-like. 

 New process meal contains about 3 per cent more crude 

 protein but only slightly more digestible protein than 

 old process meal, while the old process meal contains more 

 oil or fat than meal made by the new process. 



Another flax seed by-product is flax feed, which con- 

 sists of flax screenings including weed seeds and other 

 waste products. This product is ordinarily used in mixed 

 feeds and its value depends entirely upon its composition, 

 but it is likely to be very much lower in food value than 

 linseed meal. Flax plant by-products consist of flax pods, 

 broken flax seeds, and pieces of stems and are usually 

 of low food values. Unscreened flax oil feed is of less 

 value than linseed meal as it contains screenings. 



78 



