i6 



wise unpalatable foods, and its influence in improving the appetite 

 and digestion of horses out of condition, and likewise its favorable 

 therapeutic effects in case of colic and in respiratory troubles. 

 Nicolas, Lavalard, Laurent, Hollard, Dickson, Malpeaux, Grandeau, 

 Garcia and Sidersky have made numerous experiments with horses 

 concerning the value of molasses.*" The molasses has been fed 

 diluted with water and sprinkled over hay and straw, and also mixed 

 with a variety of substances such as peat, oil cakes, bran, finely cut 

 straw, brewer's grains, etc. These authorities consider 5 pounds 

 daily the maximum quantity for horses weighing 1000 pounds. 

 Laurent, as a result of his experiments, draws the following 

 conclusions : 



" 1. The employment of molasses as a portion of the ration for 

 draught horses is to be recommended on economic and hygienic 

 grounds. 



2. The molasses acts as a condiment which, mixed with coarse 

 fodders, straws and the like, favors their resorption ; it is likewise a 

 food and perhaps serves in the ration in place of some other ingre- 

 dient of nutrition. 



3. The objections to the use of molasses in its natural state are 

 not serious, and farmers ought to thus use it in place of the commer- 

 cial molasses feeds. The latter are more easily handled but cost so 

 much that their use is not considered economical." 



M. Hollard reported to the French Society of Veterinary Medi- 

 cine the satisfactory results which he had secured with molasses as a 

 component of the daily ration for farm horses. He did not pur- 

 chase molasses feeds, believing it preferable to mix the clear 

 molasses with some of the less desirable roughages, thereby render- 

 ing them more palatable. In winter he fed some 2 pounds of 

 molasses daily at night in place of 2 pounds of oats, and in the busy 

 spring and summer months this amount was doubled, the extra quan- 

 tity being fed at noon. By replacing one-half of the oat ration (12 

 pounds daily) with molasses and dried brewer's grains he was 

 enabled to eflfect a saving of 8 cents per head. The animals kept in 

 uniformly good condition and did fully as satisfactory work as upon 

 the oat ration. 



In the southern United States, especially on the sugar plantations 

 of Louisiana, large quantities of cane molasses (blackstrap) are fed 

 without any apparent ill effects. Dalrymple" states that '' the con- 

 sumption of molasses per day on forty-seven sugar- estates during 

 April, 1905, averaged just about 10 pounds, the extremes being from 

 2 to 3 pounds to a fraction over 21 pounds, — all seem to refer to 

 the marked diminution in the number of cases of dietetic ailments 

 such as colic, etc., and the health and therefore the capacity of the 



27 Bulletin No. S6, Louisiana Experiment Station, pages 45-7;. 



