20 



Th^ Purchase of Feeding Stuffs. 



cake is only moderately hard and can be passed conveniently 

 through the breaker it may be crusted and left exposed to 

 the atmosphere for a few days, when it becomes softer and 

 more suitable for stock. When exposed to the air in this 

 way decorticated cotton cake becomes darker in colour, and 

 it may also be noted that freshly made cakes are much 

 brighter than old cakes. 



Undecorticated Cotton Cake. — The average composition ot 

 this cake may be put at about 23 or 24 per cent, ot 

 albuminoids, 5 or 6 per cent, of oil, and 30 per cent, ot 

 carbohvdrates. The amount of woody fibre present is an 

 important point ; this is usually about 20 per cent., and 

 should not rise much above that figure. 



The most common faults of this cake are [a) excessive 

 amount and coarseness of husk ; (b) the presence of too much 

 cotton fibre, due to imperfect ginning of the raw seed. After 

 the first ginning process there still remains attached to the 

 husk a fine downy layer of cotton fibre, and this is extremely 

 difficult to remove. Thus there is always a possibility that 

 the seed will not be efficiently cleansed of such cotton, which 

 can be easily detected by the woolly appearance of the cake 

 when broken across. Coarseness of husk, and husk in 

 excessive amount, are serious objections, and have frequently 

 been the cause of fatalities amongst stock. 



The hulls present in this cake possess an astringent 

 property which checks any tendency towards looseness in 

 bowels ; and for this reason the cake is useful when fed 

 along with laxative food, such as fresh young grass in the 

 spring, and the aftermath or foggage of hay fields. In many 

 parts of the country undecorticated cotton cake is the feed- 

 ing stuff most commonly used during the grazing season. 



The comparatively low percentage of oil and albuminoids, 

 and the high percentage of fibre, render undecorticated cotton 

 cake much inferior to decorticated cotton cake as a feeding 

 material. Many experiments have been conducted with the 

 object of contrasting the two kinds of cotton cake as foods 

 for fattening cattle. The evidence thus furnished is entirely 

 in favour of the decorticated cake, which, irrespective of its 



