296 FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 



be more generally understood. As the sugar beet industry 

 increases, so will the use of this by-product in feeding in- 

 crease, consequently it would not be possible at the present 

 time to forecast the extent to which it may yet be used in 

 feeding live stock. Its highest use is found in feeding 

 horses at work and in fattening cattle and sheep, but it has 

 also proved helpful in feeding in certain combinations for 

 milk production. The real value of molasses in feeding is 

 greater than chemical analysis assigns -to it, since when 

 mixed with other foods it adds to the palatability and so in- 

 creases consumption. The belief is common among practi- 

 cal feeders, and it probably rests on a basis of truth, that 

 the free feeding of molasses tends to sterility in males and 

 to barrenness in females. It is probable that henceforth 

 nearly all the molasses made at sugar beet factories will be 

 mixed with the pressed pulp and dried before it is put upon 

 the market. The product thus prepared is ready for feed- 

 ing by simply mixing it with other foods or adding it to 

 them dry, but more commonly with all the water added that 

 it will absorb. The objection to feeding a substance so 

 sticky as liquid molasses poured over the feed is thus avoid- 

 ed, more or less of which adheres to the feed boxes and in 

 summer attracts many flies. 



For cattle, molasses is being used in increasing quanti- 

 ties. Mixed with dried blood, it aids development in calves 

 that are being prepared for the block. They furnish an ex- 

 cellent complement to such food as cottonseed meal when 

 fed to cattle that are being fattened. The product has besn 

 much used in preparing animals for exhibition. It has thus 

 led to increased consumption of the other food and im- 

 proved the gloss of the coat. It is commonly poured over 

 meal or what is better, over meal and cut fodders mixed. 

 It is frequently diluted with water before thus mixing it. 

 As a food for milk production, it is fed in smaller quanti- 

 ties. Dried molasses beet pulp may yet be used extensively 

 as a supplementary food for dairy cows, summer and winter. 



