Rocky Ford enterprise., 1901-07-05
FODDER FROM WASTE
POISON IN TOPS AND LEAVES
OF SUGAR BEETS.
O,aiio Acid Must Bs Driven Oat before
This Food May Be Fed to Animate
with safety - Poisva Makes bones
brittle.

Farmers who have raised sugar beets
often have wondered why the beet
heads and leaves which remain after
harvest have had an Injurious effect
on the farm animals to which they
have been fed. 1t would seem us II
these parts OF the beet. II cleansed
from dirt. would make good food for
stock. and though the farmer often Is
impelled TO leave the beet leaves and
head on the ground to serve as fertil-
izer, yet the desire usually Is stronger
to feed the waste TO the stock. for II Is
evident that the tops and leaves OF
the beet contain nutrltive elements.
But with heavy raiser OF sugar beets
II is impossible TO use more than 4 part
OF the by-products rs fodder while
they are still fresh. by far the greater
part being spoiled by weathering. and
often a third OF the mass Is lost by
fermentation In the silo. II has been
noticed. too, that stock fed regularly
on these leaves and heads soon show
signs OF stomach troubles. and II the
food Is persisted in. by some strange
provision OF nature the animal Is like
ly to break It's legs. These things are
due to the surprising fact that the tops
and leaves OF sugar bee,s contain an
active poison. nothing less than the
deadly oxalIc acid. When dried the
leaves contain from I to o per cent OF
this poison. and even when f.rmented
the substance holds from 9 TO J per
cent. There Is curious chemical fact
Involved In the action OF the bones OF
tho oSalIc acid taken In this way. Ok
allie acid l. soluble In potassium and
sodium. and In combination with thcs.
elements IL exists In the beet leaves
hut oSallc acid hasan affinity for lime.
and ia inSoiublc In II. and when II II
combined with lime In the system OF
the animal. II IL slightly poisonous. II
nj all. being insoiublc: and therefore
leaving the body. Now. u sufficient
carbonate OF lime Is added to the food.
all IL well with the animal. But II the
food contains an insufficient quantity
OF lime. the deficiency Ii supplied from
the lime contained In the body OF the
animal. that is. from the phosphate OF
lime which siveS strength TO the bones.
The natural result OF this Ia to make
the bones OF the animal poor In lime.
fragile. and easy 20 break. And thus
II comes that the feeding TO nm animal
Of beet leaves unmiScd with lime iE
likely to result in the animal breaking
It's legs on the least strain. But the
addition to the leaves. either dry or
fcrmcnted. OF carbonate OF lime adds
TO the earthly Impurities OF the food.
and this drawback Is SO great rs to ne
ccASitatc the finding OF some other way
OF eliminating this poison. This way
has been found by n German farmer
named wucstcnhagcn. who lives near
Stassfurt. by experimenting with
this and that process he found
method OF treating the beet tops and
leaves so that not only were they
available as healthfui fodder. but even
the small amount OF sugar which they
contain may be saved. His process
consists of these Ave steps: Cleansing
OF the leaves from earth and dirt: al
most complete destruction OF the OK
allc acid contained In the leaves: con-
Servation OF sugar contained In the
heads: slicing of the entire material:
and. finally the drying and storing OF
II The discoveryis patented. The tops
and leaves are left on the field
about ten days to withcr. during
which time they lose from so to SIS
per cent of the water they contain.
AT the same time the leaves shrink
SO that when they arc loaded on the
wagon and well shaken by the work
men n great part OF the earth falls of.
The material is then put into re-
volving drum supplied with sieves.
into which hot air streams. This dries
the particles OF earth and sand. and
almost all fall through the sieve.
These proceedings are followed nat
urally by an almost complete decom-
position of the oXalIc acid. The dry
material resulting from this process
contains II per cent and more OF
sugar. while the percentage of oxalic
acid has been reduced to O.i2 per cent.
New York Press.