456 FIELD CROPS 



off the extra moisture, after which it is ready for market, 

 while the molasses is again boiled in the vacuum pans until 

 the sugar it contains crystallizes. This second sugar or 

 mass-cuite is dark in color, and is mixed with fresh juice to 

 lighten it. It is then boiled again in the vacuum pans and 

 the sugar extracted. The molasses from the second boiling 

 is used for feeding to stock. 



598. By-products and Their Value. Beet pulp, the cos- 

 settes or strips of the beet roots from which the sugar has been 

 extracted, contains about 90 per cent of water and 10 per 

 cent of solids, so that it is nearly equal to mangels in feeding 

 value. The pulp is relished by dairy cows, and makes an 

 excellent substitute for corn silage. If it is combined with 

 clover or alfalfa hay when fed to beef cattle or sheep, com- 

 paratively little grain is required. Toward the close of the 

 feeding period, grain should be gradually substituted for 

 the beet pulp, finishing the fattening on hay and grain with- 

 out pulp. Dried beet pulp is supplied by some factories; 

 this keeps much better than wet pulp and is much lighter to 

 handle, one pound of it being equal in feeding value to about 

 eight pounds of wet pulp. Beet molasses alone is not 

 palatable, but it is often mixed with pulp before drying, the 

 dried molasses beet pulp being about equal in feeding value 

 to the dried pulp without the molasses. Beet molasses is 

 also fed to stock when it is mixed with chopped hay or 

 straw. 



SUGAR CANE 



599. History and Characteristics. Sugar cane, Sac- 

 charum offitinarum, is a perennial grass growing from 8 to 15 

 feet high, with solid, heavy stalks like corn. The flowers 

 are in silky, plume-like terminal panicles, but seed is seldom 

 produced. The plant is grown for the juice which the stalks 



