i9i i.] Molasses and Sugar Foods for Live Stock. 103 



being used to soak up the molasses, and by employing 

 suitable materials it is possible to prepare molasses feeds 

 which are practically dry, and so very convenient to handle. 

 These molasses, or sugar feeds, have increased enormously 

 during the past few years, and their composition and feeding 

 value are widely different. Where the absorbent material or 

 "base " is itself a food, the two together may make an article 

 having a well-balanced feeding value. For example, palm nut 

 meal from which the oil had been extracted has been used as 

 an absorbent of molasses, and the resulting product was found 

 to be most satisfactory, because the meal, being rich in protein 

 (albuminoids) and also containing a little fat, balanced the 

 purely carbohydrate nature of the molasses. One molasses 

 food of this kind was found to have the following composi- 

 tion : — 



Nitrogen-free extract substance 48*68 per cent. 



Protein 1478 



Fat ... 4-60 



Crude fibre 15*08 



Ash 6-37 



Water ... ... ... ... 10*49 



This analysis corresponds closely with that of coarse bran, 

 and it must be noted that a good deal of the protein is true 

 protein, and not amides, as it would be in molasses alone. 



Cocoanut meal, dried brewers' grains, malt-coombs, and 

 dried beet pulp or slices are also good absorbents of molasses, 

 for although they may not absorb as much as some other 

 materials to be mentioned later they are, nevertheless, foods 

 in themselves. Chopped hay, clover, straw, &c, have also 

 been used as bases in the preparation of molasses feeds, and 

 here again their food value comes into account, in addition 

 to that of the molasses. Dried spent hops is another 

 absorbent which is used in a well-known molasses feed, and 

 here the food value of the base is perhaps half that of dried 

 brewers' grains. 



Another class of sugar feeds is that in which the molasses 

 is absorbed by bran, pollards, or other miller's offals, or some 

 more starchy material like tapioca meal. These feeds also 

 have a food value in addition to that of the molasses alone. 



Lastly, there is a class of molasses feeds in which the 

 absorbent material or base is of little or no food value. 

 Perhaps the most characteristic example is furnished by a 



