418 On the Vahtc of the Oil in Linseed-ccike as a Food jor StocJc. 
when unpenned and looked at off-liand. Their wool opened 
more as they walked, a good sign of health, condition, and 
well-doing, and they had generally a more glossy, thriving, and 
taking appearance. All these points of merit were considered 
to indicate the fuller " ripeness " of the high oil sheep. At the 
same time, so far as mere fatness was concerned, and judging 
by the usual proof of it, in firmness, &c., under touch, no one 
was prepared to give a veiy decided opinion in favour of either 
pen of sheep under this head alone. 
The fact was that both pens — or almost all the sheep of 
both pens — were so thoroughly fat as to have reached a stage 
when little if any difference could be outwardly detected between 
them. The inspection really was, by a few weeks, too late for 
this particular purpose. 
As put into precise figures of market worth, either by open 
sale or for slaughter, the difference in value to dealer or butcher 
of the sheep as they stood was declared by the judges to be 
from 2s. to Ss. per head in favour of the high oil pen of sheep. 
Each lot of thirty sheep consumed rather over one ton of 
cake. The difl'erence in market value between the two cakes, 
OS nearly and fairly as it can be estimated, was 20s. to 30s. 
per ton. The increased value per sheep of the high oil 
pen, according to the scales, was, as has been shown already, 
2s. 6d. per head, or a gross gain of 3Z. 12s., over the low oil pen, 
in return for an extra expenditure — had it been bought at 
market rates — of 20s. to oOs. on the dearer material. In addi- 
tion, however, to this profit of 100 or more per cent, on excess of 
outlay upon a richer cake, there is the further problematical 
gain, beyond that recorded by the weigh-bridge, arising from 
the displacement of water by fat in the riper sheep, for which 
there is, as has been shown, considerable evidence, if no actual 
proof. By estimate of the experts also, the superior market 
value of the best pen of sheep was, at the higher figure named 
by them, 3s. per head, or 4Z. 10s. per pen, which is slightly in 
excess of the record of the scales. However, in any case an 
extra increase of 2s. 5d. per sheep was clearly obtained by use 
of the high oil-cake, for an extra expenditure upon it of Sd. to 
Is. per sheep. 
It therefore follows that a linseed-cake, containing 15 
per cent, of oil, and costing on that account some 20s. to 30s. 
more money per ton, may not only be used with great ad- 
vantage to grazing sheep, but with considerable profit to the 
farmer. Or, to put it in another waj', it is now very decisively 
proved that, weight for weight, linseed-oil, to the extent of 15 
per cent., in a cake, has a much higher feeding value than have 
