392 



On the Cultivation of Flax. 



chase of cil-cake and other costly feeding materials is frequently 

 unprofitable, but the production of flax-seed on the farm seems to 

 meet the difficulty at once. 



The very large quantity of oil-cake annually consumed in 

 Great Britain shows the estimation in which this description of 

 food is held. In the manufacture of this cake the seed is crushed 

 between metal rollers, then ground under edge mill-stones, heated 

 in a metal vessel, in which it is kept constantly stirred by ma- 

 chinery, and the oil then extracted by pressure. The residue is 

 the cake. When made of the seeds of hot countries, India, Sicily, 

 Egypt, or Turkey, it is tolerably pure ; but the greater proportion 

 made in England is from Russian seed, which is generally infe- 

 rior, and very much mixed with the seeds of weeds containing a 

 very small proportion of nutritious matter. The amount of olea- 

 ginous matters contained in flax-seed varies very much, and, in 

 the produce of warm climates, is always the largest. Thus, the 

 yield of oil from a bushel of East Indian seed is 14 j lbs. to ] 6 lbs. ; 

 of Egyptian, 151bs. ; of Sicilian, Hjlbs. to 15^ lbs. ; of Russian, 

 11 lbs. to 13 lbs.; of English or Irish, lOflbs. to 12 lbs. It is 

 evident that the expression of the oil renders the cake less valu- 

 able for feeding, as oleaginous matters contain a larger proportion 

 of nutriment. The oil has been actually used, with considerable 

 success, for fattening cattle, given with hay and turnips ; and of 

 late, in Rutlandshire, this practice has obtained to som.e extent. 

 There is no doubt, however, that the seed is more wholesome. 

 But by itself it should be cautiously given, as it is apt to act as a 

 purgative. Of course this is obviated by an admixture of straw or 

 other coarse substances. 



To Mr. Warnes, of Trimingham, Norfolk, we are indebted for 

 the most economical and efficient mode of using flax-seed as food 

 for cattle, that has as yet been made applicable to the circum- 

 stances of the English farmer. 



Black cattle have generally been fed in the way above described, 

 but it is also adapted to sheep, which thrive very well and take on 

 flesh rapidly. The compound is given four times a-day, about 4 

 to 6 ounces of seed to each animal. 



For horses flax-seed is peculiarly suitable, and will enable them 

 to do with a much less quantity of oats or other grain. Nothing 

 more conduces to a silky and beautiful hide than this food — an 

 unfailing sign of health in the animal. 



To pigs also flax-seed may be advantageously given ; and in 

 the north of Ireland young calves are given a small portion, say i lb. 

 in the day, ground into meal, and about 2 quarts of milk added. 

 The ground seed is made into gruel, by steeping it in cold water 

 for 12 or 24 hours, and mixing it with the milk and a little luke- 

 warm water at the feeding time. The quantity of seed may be in- 



