191 1.] Molasses and Sugar Foods for Live Stock. 105 



This is because the peat is only digested to a very slight 

 extent, and the undigested portion takes with it what other- 

 wise would go to nourish the body. In other words, peat moss 

 has a negative food value. 



The writer, whilst at the South Eastern Agricultural 

 College, found, from direct digestibility trials with sheep, 

 that the crude fibre in a food said to be composed of pure 

 cellulose and cane sugar molasses was only digested to the 

 extent of 10 to 12 per cent. In the case of a well known 

 feed, in which megass is said to be the base, the digestibility 

 coefficient of the crude fibre was about 40 per cent. 



The buyer of any molasses feed ought to consider what is 

 the feeding value of the absorbent material, and what is the 

 money value compared with the molasses itself. It is unques- 

 tionably much nicer to handle some of these dry preparations 

 instead of having to deal with the molasses itself, but often 

 this convenience is paid for at a high rate, and a thrifty buyer 

 would generally do far better if he bought molasses and mixed 

 it himself with the dry portion of the ration as directed 

 in the earlier part of this article. 



It should further be noted that these molasses feeds often 

 contain a high percentage of water (see table, page 104), and 

 they are then very liable to ferment, particularly if the bags 

 containing the feed are kept in a warm place close together. 

 Once fermentation begins the sugar is attacked by micro- 

 organisms of various kinds, and converted into acids, or 

 otherwise so changed that its feeding value is greatly 

 diminished. 



The writer, during the past few years, has examined a large 

 number of molasses feeds kept under various conditions, and 

 in the case of some of them this tendency to ferment was 

 very great, and quickly rendered the food unfit for use. Others 

 remained unchanged for a long time if stored in a cool place 

 with plenty of ventilation and on a board floor. 



If it were recognised that a molasses food is a mixture of 

 an absorbent and molasses, and that where the former has 

 no feeding value the latter alone comes into consideration, 

 much of the present advertising of those foods, which are 

 really only valuable for the molasses (sugar) which they 

 contain, would not yield much return to the advertisers. 



