FOOD 



251 



of the principal Indian feeding pulses, with their native 

 names :* 



OLEAGINOUS SEEDS. 



This important class of food-stuff, represented by Linseed, 

 Cotton, Eape, and other seeds, is very largely used in cattle 

 feeding o-wing to the amount of fat it contains. 



The discovery of cake -was an accidental circumstance ; 

 the refuse after expression of the oil was at first thrown 

 away, the farmer now willingly pays from £6 to £9 a ton 

 for it. Owing to its high price and the heavy demand, the 

 temptation to cheat the purchaser by adulteration has 

 apparently been irresistible, for the fact remains there is 

 nothing in the feeding line in which he requires greater 

 protection, and nothing in which he is more openly robbed. 

 About half a million tons of linseed cake alone are con- 

 sumed in Great Britain yearly, which conveys an idea of 

 the extent of this industry, and the facilities which exist for 

 palming off worthless material. 



As the matter of feeding cakes is an important one, no 

 apology is necessary for dealing with it in some little detail, 

 but it is desirable in the first place to consider linseed in 

 its condition as a grain. 



Linseed. 



Linseed is derived from the flax plant, the stem of which 

 furnishes the fibre from which linen is made, while the 

 seeds of the capsule supply oil and feeding cake. 



Linseed is highly nitrogenous and fatty, and contains a 



■* For the digestibility of beans see table, p. 107. 



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