478 FEEDS AND FEEDING 



another by-product of the beet sugar factories. Animals should be ac- 

 customed gradually to the pulp, later getting all they will clean up. 

 Care should be taken that refuse pulp does not accumulate in the troughs 

 and decompose. (275) 



Wet beet pulp was compared with corn silage in trials during 4 years 

 at the Colorado Station 37 by Morton and colleagues. Each year one lot 

 of 2-year-old steers was fed wet beet pulp, alfalfa hay, and a limited 

 amount of beet molasses and cottonseed cake, while the other lot received 

 corn silage instead of the pulp. The results of the trials are summarized 

 in the following table : 



Wet beet pulp vs. corn silage for fattening steers 



Feed for 100 Ibs. gain 



Daily Concen- Pulp or Alfalfa 



Average ration gain trates silage hay 



Lbs. Lbs. Lbs. Lbs. 



Lot 7, fed beet pulp 



Beet pulp, 78.8 Ibs. Molasses, 4.0 Ibs. 



Hay, 10.4 Ibs. Cottonseed cake, 2.7 Ibs. 2.43 274 3,334 425 



Lot II, fed corn silage 

 Silage, 33.3 Ibs. Molasses, 4.0 Ibs. 



Hay, 8.9 Ibs. Cottonseed cake, 2.7 Ibs.. 2.08 322 1,590 425 



In each trial the steers fed the wet beet pulp gained more rapidly than 

 those fed corn silage, and they sold on the average for 43 cents more 

 per cwt. In producing gains, 1 ton of wet beet pulp, as fed, was equal 

 to 953 Ibs. corn silage and 29 Ibs. concentrates. Taking into consideration 

 the losses in hauling pulp and the waste due to spoilage, the conclusion 

 was reached that it was not worth over 40 per ct. as much per ton as 

 corn silage. 



In another trial at the Colorado Station 38 steers fed wet beet pulp and 

 alfalfa hay, with 6.6 Ibs. corn per head daily in addition gained 2.6 Ibs., 

 while others fed alfalfa hay and corn gained only 1.8 Ibs. and steers fed 

 wet pulp and hay, without any corn, also gained 1.8 Ibs. In this trial 

 1 ton of pulp replaced 575 Ibs. alfalfa hay and 70 Ibs. corn. 



It has been pointed out in Chapter XI that cattle may be turned on 

 the beet fields to graze on the beet tops after the removal of the beets, or 

 the beet tops may be ensiled and fed in place of other silage. (279) In 

 trials at the Colorado Station 39 pasturing the tops proved more eco- 

 nomical under favorable weather conditions than ensiling them. The 

 average value of an acre of beet tops, compared with alfalfa hay at $7 

 a ton and corn silage at $4 a ton, was $6.95 an acre in two autumns when 

 the weather was good. When the weather is bad, much of the feeding 

 value is lost thru the tops being tramped into the mud and thru decay. 

 Steers fed a limited amount of beet top silage along with other feeds 



37 Colo Station, Information Bui., Jan. 1918, and information to the authors. 

 "Carlyle and Griffith, Colo. Bui. 102. 



^Morton and Maynard, information to the authors; also Thru the Leaves, 

 Sept. 1921. 



