134
Bagomolasses as Cattle Feed
induced to eat 4 lb. of bagomolasses without any
difficulty. As feeding of bagomolasses was found
to be accompanied by excessive diuresis, other
points of importance recorded in this connection
were, that the animals must have free access to
common salt and more frequent watering than
usual. Diuresis in cattle has been noted by
Warth [1926] and recently by Sen, Ray and
Talapatra [1942] in animals fed on paddy-straw.
According to these authors, diuresis is induced
by the large quantity of potassium salt present
in paddy-straw. Cane-molasses is also rich in
potassium (about 2.62 per cent on dry basis) and
it is likely that the observed diuresis is due to
the high amount of potassium present in bagomo-
lasses which contains two-third of its weight of
molasses. In this connection, an experiment was
designed to study the effect of withdrawal of
salt from the ration containing bagomolasses on
the general condition of experimental animals.
The effect of the withdrawal of the salt was quick
and marked. Within two weeks of salt-starva-
tion, there was a significant drop both in body-
weight and food consumption. On the average,
the animals lost 17 per cent of their body weight
and the food consumption decreased by about
22 per cent in terms of dry matter. As soon as
the animals were given free access to common
salt, its consumption during the week following
the complete deprivation of salt was on the aver-
age 2.6 oz. per day per animal of about 500 lb.
body-weight. With progressive feeding this high
consumption of salt gradually decreased to the
normal consumption of 1.5 oz. per animal per
day. It is apparent from the foregoing evidence
that even the normal requirement of common
salt in cattle is high when bagomolasses is in-
corporated in the ration. With the increased
intake of common salt, the diuresis was noticed
to be considerably reduced. Singh and Singh
[1934, 1935] have recorded that when molasses
was fed to working bullocks which were not given
common salt, the animals often showed froth
salivation. When these animals were allowed
free access to salt, the trouble disappeared com¬
pletely.
EFFECT OF INCORPORATING BACOMOLASSES OF
THE CONSUMPTION, DIGESTION AND UTILIZATION
OF A RATION
Experimental
For this experiment four country bullocks, eacb
weighing about 500 lb., were used. At first all
the animals gained in weight for a short period
and gradually settled down to a more or less station
any weight which averaged 550 lb. ±10 lb. In
order to make a comparative study, the who
investigation has been divided into two distinct
periods. In period 1, the ration consisted of
wheat-bhusa of known nutritive value fed a
lib and a fixed amount of wheat-bran of unknown
nutritive value (with no bagomolasses). During
period 2, the ration was changed and was made
up of equivalent amount of the same wheat-
bran mixed with 4 lb. of bagomolasses and the
same wheat-bhusa fed ad lib. The mixture of
bran and bagomolasses was fed after soaking in
water. In both the periods, the animals had free
access to common salt. Each test-ration fed in
periods 1 and 2 was continued first for a prelimi-
nary period of four to six weeks followed by a
ten-day quantitative collection of excreta and
of any food residue left, for subsequent chemical
analysis.
The percentage composition of the feeding stuffs
used during the experiment is given in Table I.
Table II shows the dry matter consumption under
each feeding test. The nutrients consumed from
the feeds and voided in the faeces are detailed
in Tables III and IV.
TABLE I
Percentage composition of feeding stuffs
Percentage (on dry basis)
Feeding stuff
Wheat bhusa .
Wheat bran .
Bagomolasses .
Dry
matter
(percent
age)
89.8
90.0
80.7
Organic
matter
90.49
89.58
83.91
Crude
protein
2.81
10.37
2.71
Ether
extract
0.64
1.33
0.37
Crude
fibre
39.88
22.40
16.33
Nitrogen-
free
extract
47.16
55.48
64.50
Total
ash
9.51
10.42
16.09
Lime
(CaO)
0.34
0.22
1.43
Phosphate
(P 2 O 5 )
0.15
1. 91
0.22