102 
Oji Beet-root Fulp. 
The question thus resolves itself into this : are 4 lbs. of sugar 
(the excess in lUO to common mangolds), or 8 lbs. of sugar (the 
excess in 100 lbs. of sugar-beets), worth more or less than 1 lb. of 
albuminous or flesh-forming matter and 20^ lbs. or 21 lbs. of the 
finely-grated fibre, which constitute the excess in 100 lbs. of the 
As the difference in the amount of nitrogenous matter in the 
pulp and in the roots is comparatively small, we need not lay 
any stress upon the excess of albuminous matter in the pulp, and 
for simplicity's sake may throw it togetherwith the excess of fibre. 
We thus obtain [in every 100 lbs. of pulp 21^ lbs. more of the 
solid matter of which the pulp mainly consists than we give to 
cattle if we fed them upon the same quantity of sliced beet-roots : 
but against this a set-off has to be made in the excess of 8 lbs. of 
sugar in the beets, or 4 lbs. when compared with common man- 
golds. 
There can be no doubt that 1 lb. of sugar is worth more as a 
fattening material than 1 lb. of the vegetable fibre which consti- 
tutes the bulk of beet-root pulp. Whether 8 lbs. of sugar are 
worth as much as 2H lbs. of crude fibre, we question very much, 
and have no hesitation in subscribing to the opinion that 22 lbs. 
of the fibre go further in supplying food than 4 lbs. of sugar. In 
support of this view of the matter it may be stated that neither 
common mangolds nor Silesian sugar-beets are ever left in the 
ground until they become over-ripe, which would have the effect 
of changing the soft and delicate fibre which forms the cellular 
and vascular tissues of the bulbs into hard and indigestible woody 
matter ; and it may be further mentioned that the young and 
tender cellular fibre of sugar-beets, when digested with weak 
alkalies, and with dilute acids, is quickly transformed into sugar. 
There can, therefore, be no reasonable doubt that the gastric juice 
and other secretions in the alimentary canal of ruminating animals, 
more especially, will render available for the purposes of nutrition 
or deposition of fat a very large proportion of the soft and finely 
comminuted fibre of which the pulp mainly consists. 
Taking all circumstances into consideration, I am inclined to 
think that accurate feeding experiments probably will prove that 
a ton of fresh beet-root pulp, as it comes from the presses, or old 
pulp not containing more water than fresh, is worth as much for 
feeding purposes as 1^ tons of the roots from which it is obtained, 
or as much as 2 tons of common mangolds. I speak, of course, 
with reservation ; still, I think the preceding analytical data, and 
the considerations which have been laid befcne the reader, justify 
the assertion that, weight for weight, beet-root piilp, containing 
not more than 70 or 72 per cent, of water, is more valuable for 
feeding purposes than common mangolds and even sugar-beets. 
