220 FEEDING WITH SUGAR BEETS, SUGAR, ETC. 



to keep the digestion in a healthful condition, but add materi- 

 ally to the store of actual food substance. It may be that 25 to 

 to 30 Ibs. per day of pulp will induce as large a flow of milk as 

 80 Ibs. per day when the rest of the feed is dry; the idea be- 

 ing that the lesser quantity gives the cow all the succulent food 

 and change of diet which she really requires for the best pro- 

 duction. When the pulp must be hauled a long distance and 

 the cost of transportation is therefore great, it would undoubt- 

 edly be unwise to feed it in larger amounts than just to give the 

 necessary succulence to the ration, and 25 Ibs. is probably suffi- 

 cient for this purpose. But when the dairy is situated adjacent 

 to the sugar factory, as at Alvarado, it might pay to feed the 

 pulp in much larger quantities. 



In California the general feeding with residuum cossettes has 

 on the whole been very satisfactory, and a very extended trial 

 has been given. The allowance per diem is 80 to 100 Ibs. per 

 1,000 Ibs. live weight. In some cases 10 to 12 Ibs. of lima bean 

 straw combined with the residuum have given satisfactory re- 

 sults; in others, 10 to 15 Ibs. uncut hay and 25 to 50 Ibs. finely 

 rolled barley. The fattening lasts about 90 to 100 days. In 

 one case 8,000 head of beef cattle were fed for four months. It 

 was found that the meat from pulp-fed cattle was very much 

 better than the alfalfa. "The meat was of fine flavor, good 

 color, marbleized, and killing very white as to fat." The opin- 

 ions as to the value of the residuum per ton is very varied, some 

 saying 50 cents while others place the price at one dollar. 



The California experiment station says that "the value of 

 tops for feeding purposes may be estimated at SI. 58 while for fer- 

 tilizing purposes they would be worth $1.65. It is declared that 

 if tops are used as food and the manure is saved, about three- 

 fourths of the fertilizing value of the original substance is still 

 retained. While this is true theoretically, it is hardly ever so 

 practically, particularly with reference to the nitrogen, the most 

 costly of the fertilizing elements. In very few instances, unless 

 the animals are pastured, is the urine saved to the soil, and this 

 part of the excreta contains the major part of the nitrogen. The 

 nitrogen in the manure is not by any means all available, at 

 best not more than 50 per cent., and in most cases not even so 



