CHAPTER XVIII 

 SUGAR FACTORY FEEDS AND OIL MEALS 



I. SUGAR FACTORY FEEDS 



Sugar is manufactured on a large scale in this country from two 

 agricultural crops, sugar beets and sugar cane. The former crop 

 furnished the raw material for about 70 per cent of the sugar manu- 

 factured here during 1913-1914. The cane-sugar industry is lo- 

 cated in the South, practically all cane-sugar manufactured in the 

 United States being made in Louisiana. The beet-sugar factories, 

 on the other hand, are located in the northern and western States, 

 the States leading in this industry being Colorado, California, and 

 Michigan. The by-products of importance as stock feeds are cane 

 and beet molasses, and beet pulp, which is fed either wet or dried. 



Molasses is the non-crystallizable residue obtained in the treat- 

 ment and evaporation of the sweet juice of sugar beets or cane. 



The beet molasses is composed of about 20 per cent moisture, 

 9 per cent protein (largely amides and nitrates), and 60 per cent 

 nitrogen-free extract, which is almost wholly sugar, and at least 

 two-thirds sucrose, the rest being composed of glucose, raffinose, 

 organic acids, pentosans, etc. Beet molasses contains about 10 per 

 cent of ash, largely potash and soda. It forms a thick, salty, not 

 particularly sweet liquid, which is very laxative on account of its 

 content of alkali salts and organic acids, and must, therefore, be 

 fed sparingly to farm animals. In feeding beet molasses it is 

 generally mixed with three to four times its proportion of warm 

 water and sprinkled on the hay, cut straw, or other roughage. It 

 is also used in the manufacture of molasses feeds with different 

 absorbents, such as dried brewers' grains, malt sprouts, alfalfa meal, 

 ground grain screenings, pea meal, ground cobs, wheat bran, and 

 other materials. The value of these feeds differs greatly, according 

 to the character of the absorbent used. If good feed materials enter 

 into their manufacture and the price of the feeds do not go too high 

 in comparison with other concentrates, they may be considered 

 well worth a trial. Beet molasses is used in some factories for the 

 manufacture of molasses beet pulp (see p. 195). It may be fed in 

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