A NEW INDUSTRY.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LVIII, Issue 17844, 27 July 1921, Page 9

A NEW INDUSTRY.

= | (Published by Arrangement.)

o LINSEED OIL AND CATTLECAKE. WORKS AT WESTFIELD. HIGH QUALITY PRODUCTS. To start a new industry and produce from New Zealand raw material (formerly exported) important commodities which have been obtained from overseas in considerable quantities, is the achievement ol the New Zealand Cattlecake and Oil Company, whose works at Westfield have been running for two or three months. Not only is it a Dominion-con-tained industry, but one of its products— viz., caUlecake—ia of the kind which increases production in the shape of betyer calyeis and more milk and beef. Thus the new industry is of national importance and is the kind, of enterprise which is doubly welcome at a time w when oversea debts embarrass national finance. Last week the company brought under the notice of oil merchants and master painters the new industry, visits being paid to the works by numbers of those interested in linseed oil. .The process of treating linseed is most up to date, the plant having been set up and is being run by an expert from Europe. The seed is- discharged from the trucks at the door of the works and may be poured straight into a hopper from which it is elevated for the preliminary operation of cleaning it. This operation is most important, for if all extraneous weed seeds were not removed the oil would suffer, because 'the oil from these seeds dees not possess the drying qualities of linseed From the cleaning hoppers, the linseed, entirely free from dust, foreign seeds and impurities, is conveyed to the next room and is automatically ted into a machine which crushes it' sufficiently to open the oil pores. The crushed material is then carried on to "cookers"—huge drumshaped receptacles dry-heated by steam contained in a surrounding .jaclfet. The mealy mass is kept stirred by a travelling "propeller," and is p,t the right heat when the next operation begins. By a clever device the exact quantity of the mulch to' make a cattlecake after oil is pressed out, is conveyed to a press, an operator placing a woollen mat and an iron plate on the top of each of these "portions." The bottom of the press automatically sinks as this -work goes on until the press is filled with 30 layers. Heavy hydraulic pressure is then gradually exerted and the oil pours out of the mass, but the pressure is relaxed at an exact moment because 10 per cent, ol oil must be left in the residue to give it the ri?ht value as cattle feed. The next operation is the removal of the cakes which have now become firm. These are other bagged for sale in that form or broken into "nuts" or further crushed fine for sale as meal. The oil is collected from the presses into vats—from these it is forced through a filter press and purified in the process. It is .then pumped into the storing tanks where it is matured, the time being determined by the condition of the seed used. A careful watch is kept over both products by the laboratory official e who always are in a position to guarantee the purity and quality of the output. Speaking with a long experience of the industry in Britain and Europe, the manager says that the oil, on laboratory and practical tests, has been proved to be' equal to the. best imported oil and much better than "some. It is much clearer in appearance than some of the imported brands and dries quickly. The seed being used is all grown in New Zealand and the expert says it is quite as good as the best Baltic. The ■ company has sufficiently large stocks of linseed on hand to supply a large share of the oil requirements of the Dominion, and eventually it hopes to be able to supply the whole of the New Zealand demand. The cattlecake is sold under the brand of "Moose." It is guaranteed as a perfect cattle food, its analysis being: protein 30 per cent. ; carbohydrates 37 per cent. ; fat 10 per cent.; moisture 9 per cent. ; fibre 7 per and ash 7 per cent. The value of linseed cake as a cattle food has been so thoroughly demonstrated that it is almost unnecessary to refer to the fact. It has been a popular stock feed in Britain and Europe for a century, and is one of the secrets of the rapid growth of beef stock in the Homeland. In Scotland the writer has seen 18-month beasts, stall-fed, of course, which were almost as bis as the average 24-year animal, and which were sold at £18 and £20. Apart from the beef industry the cake is of great value to the dairy farmer, especially for feeding to cows for milk production. The ground cake is also a fine feed for calves, pigs and poultry. The establishment of the industry n calculated to give a big impetus to the growing of linseed. At present the crop is practically confined to Canterbury on account of the fact that it is a splendid crop to precede a crop of wheat. There is no reason, however, why it should not be grown with profit in many other parts of the Dominion. It is easily grown, it does not impoverish the soil and having long roots it breaks up rough ground. So far the linseed straw has not been used in New Zealand, but elsewhere it is nsed for the manufacture of the best kind of linen bond paper and twine. In this connection inquiries are now being made.