132 



CATTLE FATTENED ON LINSEED. 



and many farmers. Indeed, the prejudices of some were carried 

 so far at one time as to pronounce the oil pernicious, and to 

 recommend an article called double-pressed cake at an extra 

 cost of two pounds per ton, instead of the cake commonly used ; 

 but I believe the merit of this discovery does not belong 

 to Norfolk. A little reflection would have shown how impro- 

 bable it was that the seed-crusher would be so regardless of 

 his own interests as to leave oil, worth from 35Z. to 40/. per ton, 

 in the cake, which he only sold for lOZ. 



That linseed-oil will fatten bullocks experience has placed 

 beyond a doubt. Amongst the fattest beasts ever sent to the 

 London market from Norfolk, was a lot of Scotch heifers, 

 grazed entirely on linseed-oil and hay; but the quantity 

 given per day, the cost per head, or anything relative to profit 

 or loss, I never heard : farmers seldom keep account of such 

 matters ; hence the frequent failure of experiments. A bullock 

 may be allowed in general to eat as much cake in a day as he 

 pleases; but a nice regard must always be had to the quan- 

 tity of linseed placed before him, and especially to the oil. 

 Neither oil nor linseed should be used in a crude state, but 

 formed into mucilage by being boiled in water. The seed 

 must be fiyst reduced to fine meal ; one pound and a half of 

 which, stirred into twelve pounds of water while it is boiling, 

 with four pounds and a half of barley, beans, or pea-meal, 

 and given to a bullock of between 40 and 50 stone every day, 

 will, in addition to Swedish turnips, be quite sufficient, or 

 perhaps rather more than he would be inclined to eat. This 

 small quantity of linseed will act well on the stomach, and the 

 bullocks will thrive and fatten in a degree that can scarcely be 

 credited, except by the person who tries the experiment. In no 

 instance has it failed. The quantity of seed may be increased 

 after the animal has been accustomed to it for some time, but I 

 believe to no great extent. I have reduced this to a certainty 

 from repeated tests : therefore as oil is stored so abundantly in 

 linseed, I think I may fairly attribute the failure of those who 

 have so freely condemned the use of both oil and seed to a 

 want of proper inquiry into, and a prudent and systematic 

 employment of, their extraordinary fattening properties. 



It is but just to state that the above investigation originated 



