Oil the Cultivation of Flax. 



405 



The animals did not seem to sufter in any way from standing 

 continually on this accumulation of manure. They appeared 

 sleek and healthy, and evidently in a thriving condition ; and 

 as far as I could judge from what I saw, and from all that 

 I learnt by inquiries on the spot, the boxes appeared to answer 

 perfectly with respect to the cattle, whilst the manure obtained 

 by this method is unquestionably great, and I believe superior 

 in quality to that obtained by stall-feeding in the usual man- 

 ner, all the excrementitious matter, both liquid and solid, being 

 preserved. 



The important distinction, however, between the mode of 

 feeding at Trimingham and that usually practised, consists in the 

 large and systematic use of linseed, which is, in fact, the foun- 

 dation of the system. The seed is ground into a fine meal, and 

 is then put into boiling water, and becomes a rich mucilage ; in 

 which state it is mingled in certain proportions w^ith grass, clover, 

 hay, and pea or bean haulm cut into chaff, or with barley, or pea 

 or bean meal, or with turnips, mangold-wurzel, potatoes, or carrots 

 steamed or boiled. The cattle are fond of these compounds, 

 which are all highly nutritious, and are moreover one or more, if 

 not all of them, obtainable in all seasons, so that the feeding can 

 be carried on continuously throughout the year, which is an im- 

 portant consideration for the farmer. The animals fatten rapidly, 

 and statements were exhibited to me, shovving that by the use of 

 these compounds cattle are fattened sooner, and at a considerably 

 less cost, than by the usual mode of feeding. 



It does not exactly come within the limits assigned to this 

 article to describe in all its details, as I should otherwise be pre- 

 pared to do, the system of box-feeding with linseed compounds, 

 as it has been established at Trimiingham, or to compare it with 

 the old system of house-feeding so generally practised. Each 

 will have its advocates, although each can hardly be equally ad- 

 vantageous to the farmer ; and there cannot, I think, well be at 

 this time a question of greater importance to the agricultural 

 interest, than to ascertain by actual experiment to which system 

 the preference ought to be given. 



In the absence of such specific inquiry, I can now only advert 

 in general terms to the fattening properties of linseed, and recom- 

 mend its extended use by our farmers, and an extended cultivation 

 of flax, not for the fibre only, but in order to obtain a supply of 

 home-grown seed. 



The use of oil-cake in feeding cattle has long been known, and 

 the quantity imported,"^ added to the probably still greater quan- 



* See page 443. 



