EXPERIMENT STATION BULLETINS. 



115 



The composition of ensiloed pulp and the dried pulp is taken from the monograph oi 

 Maercker on the " Value and Characteristics of Dried Beet Pulp" published in 1891.' 



The similarity in the composition of the dry matter of pulp and corn silage is 

 significant. There are indeed other factors to consider in determining the value of a 

 stock food but the chemical composition indicates in a general way what may be 

 expected of it. At the Cornell University! a trial was made with milk cows, feeding 

 alternately beet pulp and corn silage. It was found that the pulp would replace the 

 silage without loss of yields, giving of course twice as much pulp to secure the same 

 amount of dry matter. The results of this test confirms the indications set forth in thi 

 table above. 



Xo statement is at hand as to the digestibility of the pulp either fresh or dried, but- 

 considering the amount of protein in the pulp, 11 should compare favorably with the 

 other rough feeds mentioned in the table. 



Mr. Wright was feeding several hundred steers on his various farms. The steers set 

 aside for this lest were for the most part shorthorn grades averaging 751 pounds in 

 weight on December 10 when the experiment began. The herd was divided into two lots, 

 one containing thirty steers to receive pulp and the other twenty steers to be fed the 

 same basal ration but no pulp. This basal ration consisted of hay, a mixture of clover 

 and timothy, not of the best quality and a grain ration made up of corn and beet 3eed 

 ground together. This mixture was fed alike to all the steers in the test and was not 

 analyzed. 



Tire steers ran in covered yards, with water at hand, and were well protected from 

 the cold. Prior to the beginning of the experiment all of the steers had received pulp. 

 It was necessary, therefore, to gradually remove the pulp from the twenty steers, that, 

 during the experiment, were to receive none. This was (lone during the week beginning 

 December 4. 



The following tables give the details of the work as far as needed to understand the 

 results: 



Weights of steers ami gains. 



Lot I, with pulp, 30 steers. 



December 10. 

 December 24. 



January 7 



January 21... 

 February 4. . . 

 February 18. . 



March 4 



March 11 



Total 



Weights- 

 pounds. 



22,800 

 23,100 

 23,865 

 24,610 

 25,030 

 25,570 

 26,420 

 26,680 



Gain- 

 pounds. 



300 

 765 

 745 

 420 

 510 

 850 

 260 



Lot II, without pulp, 20 steers. 



3,880 



December 10. 

 December 24. 

 January 7 — 

 January 21 . . . 

 February 4. . . 

 February 18. . 



March 4 



March 11 



Total 



1,245 



Gain per steer, 129.33 pounds. 

 Gain per steer per day, 1.42 pounds. 



Gaiu per steer, 62 25 pounds. 



• lain per steer per day, .684 pounds. 



* Loss 80 pounds. 



The gains were not large with either lot. The steers were not fed large amounts of 

 grain at any time during the test because it was not Mr. Wright's plan to make gains 

 but to carry the steers through the winter as economically as possible. While the 

 difference in total gain is therefore significant, it does not indicate wholly the value of 

 the pulp. The thirty steers receiving pulp did not shrink during the trying month of 

 December, as did the twenty steers not receiving pulp. 



* "Wesen und Verwertung der getrockneten Diffnsionsriiekstandc der Zuekerfabriken," 

 page 15. 



t Bulletin 183. 



