By-Products 183 
these troubles. The disagreeable odor that accompanies 
most sugar-factory by-products makes them nauseating to 
handle. Its bulky nature makes its use uneconomical at 
great distances from the factory. 
In addition to lime, a small amount of potassium and 
ammonium fertilizer is made from by-products of the 
manufacturing process in factories equipped with the 
Steffen process. After all possible sugar is extracted from 
the molasses, there remains a slop containing compara- 
tively large quantities of inorganic salts and organic com- 
pounds that may be utilized for making fertilizer. The 
slop must be evaporated to dryness to obtain the fertilizer. 
This is profitable only when potassium brings a high price. 
Under normal conditions the slop can best be used on 
local farms with the irrigation water. Under more in- 
tensified farming, it may become profitable to evaporate 
and return it to the land from which it came; but at 
present it seems improbable that this material can compete 
commercially with the cheaper sources of fertilizer. 
Besides the products mentioned, there are a number of 
others, such as filter cloth and rubber belting, that are 
sometimes made of use for various purposes by the local 
community, 
