292 FEEDING WITH SUGAR BEETS, SUGAR, ETC. 



receptacle in question with a shovel or pitchfork, and the com- 

 bination is then thrown into the vertical mixer, from which it 

 enters the compressor, and is then cooked in the oven. In 

 cases where this molasses fodder is to be consumed at once it is 

 not compressed, but is simply emptied into small wagons run- 

 ning on narrow-gauge tracks to the stable. At the factory 

 under consideration, about 4J Ibs. of the product are fed to 

 either horses or oxen. The combination in question contains 

 about 20 per cent, moisture, and is consequently dryer than the 

 original molasses. Upon general principles one might conclude 

 that the removal of additional molasses was unnecessary; but 

 this idea is a mistake, for the moisture contained in the products 

 added might be the cause of fermentation unless the drying 

 were continued; and furthermore, both the straw and the flour 

 bring with them certain micro-organisms which sooner or later 

 exert their destructive influence. 



Molasses combi- The question of the possibility of manufacturing the molasses 

 combinations upon the farm has led to a series of very elaborate 

 investigations in the laboratory of the sugar manufacturers' syn- 

 dicate of France. The starting point was the Vaury molasses 

 cakes containing 50 per cent, molasses and having the following 

 composition : 25 to 28 per cent, saccharine substances, 45 to 48 

 per cent, hydrocarbons, 9 to 12 per cent, nitrogenous substances 

 and 1 per cent, fatty substances. Just what ingredients are 

 used is unknown. Its cost, $1.36 per 100 Ibs., is and has been 

 one of the objections to its general use. The first object in view 

 is to utilize any waste material that may be found in the barn 

 and to select a substance that may be used to combine with 

 molasses, so as to form a solid, nearly dry mass which may be 

 readily carried from place to place as it may be called for. In 

 the first series of experiments, the drying of the combinations 

 was done in an oven. First combination : 100 parts wheat flour, 

 2 parts yeast and 50 parts water, well mixed with 100 parts mo- 

 lasses at 38 to 39 Be. and 80 parts of pulverized oil cake. It 

 is baked in an oven and becomes nearly solid. Second combina- 

 tion: 30 parts wheat flour with the requisite water and yeast, 

 100 molasses, 80 pulverized oil cake. The resulting cake can 

 be readily carried. Third experiment: 25 wheat flour with the 



