The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1897-11-18
THE SUGAR BEET.
Results of Experiments with 1t as
Food for Live stock.

The agricultural experiment station Of
Purdue University, c. S. Plumb, director,
has issued the following bulletin:
Numerous letters have been sent the In
diana experiment station this fall request
ing Information concerning the sugar beet
as food for farm live stock and its feed
ing value. This inquiry is no doubt mainly
caused by the greatly increased interest
in Sugar-beet culture by farmers at the
present time and this bulletin is intended
to, in a measure, answer the inquiry.
THE beet contains considerably less nu-
triment than other standard coarse fod-
derS, one hundred pounds of beetS con-
tanning something over a pound of digeSti-
BILE understanding food, while red clover
contains about 612 pounds and timothy hay
nearly three pounds. The value of beetS
as food, however, largely lies in their
lnnuence on the digestive organs at a time
of year when stock is fed only dry food.
The almost universal report from practical
feeders and experimenters is that roots are
valuable as winter food for stock, and SUI
gar beets take a leading place among the
roots in this respect. They contain more
nutriment than mangels, carrots, rutabagas
and common turnipS. Their sugary nature
makes them especially palatable. For sheep
or mix COWS no better roots be fed.
They keep the bowels open and tend to
prevent impaction with cattle and sheep
ana give a gloss to the coat and condition
to the skin not secured by dry feed.
'One can hardly measure the money value
OF roots by their chemical composition For
y
In the esteem of British stockmen and ara
extensiNe ely grown in Europe for winter
feeding. In the United States valuations
have been placed on beets of about 81 to
$3.50 ton for stock food but the matter of
price varies slightly according to circum-
stances.
I'm feeding experiments conducted in the
United States with sugar beets these roots
nave been led in connection with other
foods. At this station beets have invariably
been fed to advantage, and we have used
sugar beetS for years for cattle and sheep
At the Ohio station, where corn silage and
field beets have been compared in feeding
dairy cattle, the beets have caused the best
gains in weight of COWS, size of milk flow
and production of butter fat.
THE sugar beet has no quality injurious
to the milk when fed dairy cattle, while
turnips. unless fed with considerable care.
will give an Objectionable flavor to it. The
beets can be fed to best advantage after
Sl1cing or running through a root cutter,
and fifty pounds per head for average cattle
with other foods is an ample quantity.
Now that beet sugar factories are being
erected in this country, there will be con-
siderable refuse beet pulp, which is regarded
as valuable food. At the Lehi, Utah, fac
tory feeding company has contracted for
all the pulp for a term of years, and feeds
in sheds near the factory. 1t is said that
the cattle eat from 100 to 125 pounds of
pulp per day, besides about fifteen pounds
of hay. Analyses by the California expert
ment station show beet pulp to contain
nearly as much protein as corn silage and
somewhat less of the other food ingredients
and the feeding value Is estimated at So %
per ton, while corn silage is placed at So. %
per ton.
Beet pulp is entirely suited to the silo,
and in the vicinity Of beet sugar factories
it is kept ensiled. In the future growth of
the beet sugar industry in America the
residue of pulp will be regarded as an i'm
the live stock of the neighborhood.
Other roots can be grown more cheaply
than sugar beetS, but where the latter are
advantage"