464 



On the Cultivation of Flax, 



for their purpose as at present; and after the oil is expressed, 

 the residaum in the shape of oil-cake will likewise, as at present, be 

 found a valuable addition to the farmer's store for winter feeding-. 



The use of linseed may therefore be considered as established, 

 and its value certain ; and if to the uses to which it has been 

 hitherto applied be added a new use, or a material enlargement 

 of one heretofore but little practised, an increased demand for 

 the article will be created, up to the limit to which the new use 

 extends ; and unless there be a proportionate increase of supply, 

 the market value will doubtless be enhanced. 



Now linseed has hitherto been little used for general feeding 

 purposes. It has, indeed, been rather extensively used for fat- 

 tening calves, but the quantity required for this particular object 

 is not considerable. Farmers were not, however, altogether igno- 

 rant of the fattening qualities of the seed, and a few of them here 

 and there applied it to cattle-feeding, but never systematically, 

 and as an essential part of agricultural management. Flax-seed 

 thus continued to be used in a small way for feeding calves, and 

 to a trifling extent in a few districts for fattening cattle, until 

 Mr. Warnes established his system of box-feeding at Trimingham, 

 and called attention to the subject by his several publications, 

 since which the use of the seed for feeding purposes has been 

 rapidly extending. 



I visited Trimingham last autumn, for the purpose of inquiring 

 into the mode of management adopted by Mr. Warnes. He had 

 previously explained his system of cattle-feeding very fully in a 

 work which he had published,* and I likewise received various 

 explanations from him personally; but an inspection of the 

 premises, and an examination of the management in all its details, 

 appeared necessary for forming a judgment of the system. 



Instead of being tied up in sheds or stalls of the usual form, the 

 cattle at Trimingham are kept in boxes of from 8 to 10 feet 

 square, very similar to horse-boxes, and in which the animals 

 moved about with ease and freedom. In these boxes they are 

 fed, and here they remain, from the time they are put up until 

 they are ready for the butcher, which rarely exceeds six months, 

 and is often less. Two sets are thus fattened in the course of the 

 year, the feeding being continued winter and summer. Each 

 box is sunk two feet, and forms a kind of tank at bottom, in which 

 the manure is allowed to accumulate, fresh litter being added 

 from time to time, as the bedding becomes wet or soiled. All 

 the dung and urine are thus absorbed by, and mingled with the 

 litter, which is trodden into a solid compact mass by the animal, 

 so that no portion is lost by evaporation or otherwise. 



* Warnes on the Flax Crop and uses of the Seed, 1846. 



