228 PRINCIPLES OF FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 



Molasses Feeds. — Different feedingstuffs are often 

 sweetened with molasses, dried, and sold under various 

 trade names. Although some of these mixtures are good, 

 often the molasses is used with material such as ground alfalfa 

 or clover chaff, oat dust, oat cHppings, screenings, peanut 

 hulls, and other substances which have little or no feeding 

 value. The use of molasses provides one of the best means 

 possible for disguising substances which are low in nutritive 

 value. It has been found that mixing beet molasses with 

 peat or sphagnum moss greatly improves the palatabiUty 

 and neutraUzes the alkalinity of the molasses. However, 

 the peat does not add anything to the nutritive value, al- 

 though it is quite high in nitrogen, because it is practically 

 indigestible. 



Usually the farmer cannot afford to buy such feeds at the 

 high prices ordinarily asked for them. In general, it will 

 pay the farmer to prepare his molasses mixtures at home, 

 thereby utilizing the waste roughages of the farm, and not 

 paying a fancy price for another man's low-grade roughage. 



Beet pulp is a by product of the beet sugar factories. It is 

 the residue after the extraction of a large part of the sugar 

 of the beet. In the wet form, it consists of about 90 per cent 

 water. In regions where it can be obtained cheaply, it may 

 be fed with profit in either the wet or dry form to dairy cows, 

 fattening steers, or fattening sheep. Souring does not 

 decrease the value of the wet pulp. In fact, it is better 

 relished this way. The dried beet pulp is only a little 

 below corn meal in nutritive value. It is especially valuable 

 for dairy cows and fattening cattle when properly supple- 

 mented by nitrogenous concentrates. However, it should 

 not be used unless cheaper than corn. When fed to dairy 



