254 VETEEINAEY HYGIENE 



unless submitted to a process which will be mentioned 

 presently. Cattle at first do not take to rape cake, but eat 

 it freely after a time. 



Cotton seed yields an excellent cake, it is manufactured 

 either after the husks of the seed have been removed, and 

 known then as decorticated cake, or with the husks still 

 present as undecorticated. Very great difference of opinion 

 exists as to the relative value of the two cakes, but the con- 

 sensus of opinion points to the decorticated variety as being 

 the best and safest ; further, it contains much less cellu- 

 lose, for the husks in the undecorticated cake give over 

 20 per cent, of cellulose as against 9 per cent, in the decor- 

 ticated cake. 



By some, cotton cake is considered too astringent for 

 calves, and in all cases the undecorticated variety is liable 

 to induce stomach or intestinal trouble owing to the husks. 



Dr. J. A. Voelcker, whose official position in the Eoyal 

 Agricultural Society has afforded him an extensive acquaint- 

 ance with feeding cakes, says* that the nice soft decorticated 

 cotton cake of eleven years ago is now a thing of the past, 

 and its place taken by decorticated cake made from Bombay 

 cotton seeds. This cake is less nitrogenous and more 

 sandy than the original cake. The undecorticated cake of 

 the present day is made from Bombay instead of Egyptian 

 seed, and is very ' woolly,' besides containing sand and 

 borax, the latter being added as a preservative. 



Though the best cotton seed for cakes is spoken of as 

 Egyptian, it is not of Egyptian origin but is one of the 

 American varieties, distinguished by the staple of the wool, 

 and the readiness with which the cotton can be separated 

 from the seed. With the Bombay cotton seed the wool 

 lies closely matted on the husk, and cannot be removed by 

 the process of ' ginning.' The woolly Bombay cakes Voelcker 

 considers are liable to cause bowel obstruction, from the 

 manner in which they collect portions of husk and form 

 masses. t 



* Journal Royal Agricultural Society, vol. Ixiv., 1903. 

 t Op. cit. 



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