EDITORIAL OBSERVATIONS. 
235 
rate the feeding value of oil- cake, and thus increase the 
profits of the crusher by his charging for it as much as for 
the genuine article. The commercial value of the oil, how- 
ever, of oleaginous seeds, prevents to a great extent this 
system of adulteration, as many of the things said to be 
mixed with the seed before crushing would, if so used, tend 
to retain a relatively larger quantity of oil in the cake; but 
as we cannot now enter into a consideration of this part of 
the subject, we shall conclude this article by referring to a 
legitimate substitute for oil-cake which has recently attracted 
the notice of agriculturists, namely, cotton-cake. 
This material is obtained from the seeds of the cotton- 
plant, and it appears, from our present experience of its feed- 
ing properties, to offer some advantages over things more 
generally employed. Professor Way, at a late meeting of the 
Council of the Royal Agricultural Society, drew attention to 
the subject, by remarking (£ that a new cake was likely soon 
to be brought into the market, namely, the cotton-cake, ob- 
tained from cotton-seeds, after the oil, for the candle-manu- 
facturer’s purposes, had been pressed out of them by machi- 
nery. The husks, however, and the short fibres of cotton 
which remain attached to them, might prove indigestible and 
obstructive to the functions of the intestines when given as 
food to animals ; but the manufacturer w r as about to employ 
a process for decorticating the seeds, which would remove 
such objection to its use. The cake would be of superior 
quality, and moderate price, namely, 8/. 10,?. per ton. The 
manufacturer also thought it might be advisable to make an 
intermediate cake, of cotton-seed, with linseed, ■which would 
induce the cattle to eat the cotton-cake more readily.” 
To Mr. Gadesden, a member of the Council, we are in- 
debted for the details of some experiments in the feeding 
properties of cotton-cake. As these are the first yet made 
public, w T e prefer to give them in full. 
He reports that “ with a view of testing the comparative 
quality of this cake for feeding purposes, he selected, two 
months since, a dozen Southdown sheep, dividing them into 
two pens of six each, in an open shed on boards, supplying 
