EXPERIMENT STATION BULLETINS. 113 



SUMMARY, 



1. The experiments at this Station, combined with the experience of practical 

 farmers, show that steers, milk cows and sheep are fond of beet pulp. 



2. In an experiment on the farm of A. W. Wright, where steers were fed with the 

 object of carrying them through the winter with as little outlay as possible, and where 

 the ration was made up of mixed hay, shredded corn stover, and grain ration, consisting 

 of corn and beet seed ground together, one lot of 30 steers had pulp while a second lot 

 of 20 steers had the same ration of hay, stover and grain, but no pulp. It required 

 per day and steer with the pulp-fed lot, 55 pounds of pulp, 8.5 pounds of mixed hay, 4 

 pounds of shredded corn stover, and 2.4 pounds of the ground grain. On this ration 

 the steers made an average daily gain of 1.42 pounds. The lot receiving no pulp had 

 for a daily ration 11.5 pounds of mixed hay, 8 pounds of shredded corn stover, and 2.4 

 pounds of grain, and made daily gain of .684 pounds. Comparing the amounts of 

 food consumed by each pen to produce a hundred pounds of gain, and computing from 

 this data the value of a ton of pulp as an additional succulent fodder, the tests show 

 that under the conditions existing a ton of pulp, fed with the other factors of the 

 ration, took the place of 421.5 pounds of corn stover, 274 pounds of mixed hay, and 

 68.8 pounds of grain. Practical feeders will naturally wait for the confirmation of these 

 figures by future experiments before basing their operations upon them. 



3. In the experiment on the farm of A. M. Todd, a herd of twenty steers of mixed 

 breeding, and in poor condition was divided into two lots, to one of which was given 

 a ration of mint hay, somewhat mouldy, but palatable, wheat bran or oats, and corn 

 meal; while to the other lot was given the same ration, and beet pulp in addition. 



The latter lot made an average daily gain of 2 . 52 pounds. While the steers which had 

 no pulp made a daily gain of 1.84 pounds. Making the computations as before to find 

 the estimated value of a ton of pulp, we find that under the conditions existing at Pearl, 

 a ton of pulp took the place of 244 pounds of mint hay, 32.6 pounds of wheat bran, 

 296 pounds of corn meal, and 27.2 pounds of oats. During the last week of this experi- 

 ment the lot of steers having no pulp were off feed and made no gains. If, for this 

 reason, the experiments were brought to a conclusion a week earlier the estimated value 

 of the pulp would be reduced approximately by one-third. These figures result from 

 a single experiment and must therefore await confirmation before being taken as the 

 statement of the station in the matter. 



4. Where, in the last experiment, two lots of ten steers each were fed the same kind 

 and amount of dry feed for six weeks and to the ration of one lot pulp was added, the 

 feeding of 13,775 pounds of pulp gave an increased gain of 280 pounds. 



5. When fed to milk cows at the College, with mixed hay, and a grain ration of two 

 parts bran to one of corn, the pulp added nothing to the yield of butter fat. It increased 

 somewhat the milk flow. 



6. Experiments with milk cows at the Cornell Experiment Station, in New York, 

 reported in Bulletin 183, indicated that the dry matter of the beet pulp and of corn 

 silage were of equal value. To furnish the same quantity of dry matter requires 

 twice as much of ordinary pulp as of silage. 



7. The consensus of opinion among farmers who have fed pulp is that for milk cows 

 it is a good feed, although the pulp from frozen beets should be used with caution. 

 Growing and fattening cattle do well on it, and owners declare that it saves one-third 

 of the coarse fodder. Both fattening lambs and breeding ewes like pulp, and for them 

 it proved a valuable factor in the ration. 



15 



