FEEDS FOB BEEF CATTLE 479 



made fair gains, but not so large as those fed wet beet pulp or corn 

 silage. No other beet by-products should be fed with beet top silage, as 

 there might be a tendency toward scouring the cattle. In trials during 

 two years, when limited amounts of beet top silage were fed it was worth 

 on the average only $2.39 a ton compared with corn silage at $4.00 a ton. 



747. Dried beet pulp. Most of the dried beet pulp produced is fed to 

 dairy cows, but it may also be used for fattening cattle. (276) However, 

 it is a bulky feed and tends to produce growth rather than to fatten if 

 used as the only concentrate. 40 In a trial at the Colorado Station 41 100 

 Ibs. of dry matter in dried molasses beet pulp did not prove as valuable 

 for fattening steers as the same amount of dry matter in a combination 

 of wet beet pulp and beet molasses. 



748. Molasses; molasses feeds. In the sugar-cane districts of the 

 South, cane or blackstrap molasses is quite commonly an economical feed 

 for fattening cattle, as it is usually considerably lower in price per ton 

 than corn or other grains. It should be used to replace not more than 

 about half the concentrates ordinarily fed and should be diluted and 

 poured over silage or over hay or other dry roughage. This will induce 

 the steers to consume more roughage than they otherwise would. (280) 



In a 120-day trial at the Texas Station 42 Burns fed one lot of 2-year-old 

 steers a ration of 15.1 Ibs. corn, 3 Ibs. cottonseed meal, and 12.6 Ibs. 

 cottonseed hulls, while another lot was fed 6.5 Ibs. cane molasses in place 

 of the same weight of corn. The steers fed molasses made slightly larger 

 gains and required a little less feed for 100 Ibs. gain. In one trial by 

 Eward and Culbertson at the Iowa Station, 43 adding 5 Ibs. cane molasses 

 per head daily to a ration of shelled corn, linseed meal, corn silage and 

 legume hay increased the rate of gain and the molasses proved to be worth 

 23 per ct. more per ton than shelled corn. On the other hand in a similar 

 trial the following year, the steers fed molasses made smaller gains, 

 and molasses was worth decidedly less than corn per ton when fed at this 

 rate of 5 Ibs. per head daily. Likewise in one trial at the Pennsylvania 

 Station 44 by Tomhave and Severson, adding 5 Ibs. of molasses to a ration 

 of corn, mixed hay, corn silage and cottonseed meal did not increase the 

 gains and the molasses was worth less per ton than corn, while in a later 

 trial by Tomhave, MacKenzie, and Bentley molasses was worth more per 

 ton than shelled corn when 3.7 Ibs. was added to a similar ration. In a 

 trial by McCampbell and Winchester at the Kansas Station 45 2 lots of 

 steers were fed for 75 days on a ration of cane silage, alfalfa hay, and 2.26 

 Ibs. linseed meal to balance the ration. Then shelled corn was added to 

 the ration of one lot and 5 Ibs. cane molasses per head daily to that of the 

 other lot for a 45-day finishing period. The steers fed corn made slightly 

 more rapid gains, but the financial outcome was a little the best from 



and Norton, Mich. Bui. 247. 



"Morton and Maynard, information to the authors. 



42 Tex. Bui. 110. "Information to the authors. 



^Information to the authors. 45 Kan. Cir. 86. 



