6o2 Linseed Cake in the United Kingdom, [jan., 



Year. 



Quantity. 



Value. 



Qrs. 



1900 

 1901 

 1902 



1903 

 1904 



1905 



1,666,000 

 1,685,000 

 1,819,000 

 2,186,000 

 2.786,000 

 1^924,000 



4,162,000 

 4,264,000 

 4,487,000 

 4,180,000 

 4,502 000 

 3,541,000 



The seed is used for the extraction of linseed oil, and the 

 residue is made into linseed cake for cattle feeding. Argentina 

 and India are now the principal sources of supply, and taking 

 the average of the five years, 1 901-1905, out of an annual im- 

 port of 2,080,000 qrs., 775,000 qrs., or 37 per cent, came from India, 

 and 982,000 qrs., or 47 per cent, from Argentina, the only 

 other contributor of importance being Russia, which supplied 

 240,000 qrs. It will be seen from the figures given above that 

 there has been a distinct fall in values, the average declared value 

 in 1 90 1 being 50s. yd. per qr., and in 1905 only 36s. 9d. per qr. 

 The re-exports during the five years (1901-1905) averaged 

 123,000 qrs., so that the quantity remaining for home consump- 

 tion was about 1,957,000 qrs. 



In the United States Crop Reporter for December last it is 

 stated that the average yield of oil from Russian seed is 

 estimated at about 27 per cent, from Calcutta seed about 32^ 

 per cent., from Bombay seed 33 \ per cent, and from Argentine 

 seed about 3 1 ^ per cent. The mechanical process of expressing 

 oil from flaxseed in the United Kingdom is thus described. The 

 seed, after having been crushed into fine meal by being passed 

 between the contiguous surfaces of a stack of steel rollers, is 

 moderately heated in steam-jacketed heaters. The oil is then 

 expressed by pressure in a powerful hydraulic press. There is 

 no waste in the process of manufacture, a given weight of seed 

 yielding an approximately equivalent weight of oil and oilcake. 

 Of the two products the oil is, weight for weight, much the higher- 

 priced substance, and, consequently, is the chief object of the 

 manufacturing process. By no system of pressure, however, can 

 all the oil content be expressed from the crushed meal. A small 

 proportion always remains in the residue, the oilcake, and it is 

 an important fact that both the economic and the cash value of 

 the latter product is to a considerable extent dependent upon 

 the oil it contains. In the United Kingdom the demand of 



