The ranch. [volume] (Seattle, Wash.) 1902-1914, 1914-04-01
SUCCULENCE WITHOUT A SILO.

Pacific Coast dairymen are welcom-
ing the introduction of dried beet
pulp as solution of the problem of
providing an all the-year Succulent
feed for their COWS.
For many years they have known
of wet beet pulp in a general way,
and for many years all except a few
have had no opportunity to use it,
and have considered it feed which
could be obtained in only a few
places. But the recent introduction
of drying plants here is rapidly
bringing beet pulp into general use.
Ever since the beet sugar industry
was first established, dairymen living
near the factories have been feeding
wet pulp to COWS with great profit.
They realized it's value as milk
producer and the COWS themselves
we're ravenous for it. But the advent
of the drying process has produced
great changes. Instead of having a
large herd of cattle gathered near the
factory to eat what they could OF pulp
which fermented a few hours after 1T
left the factory, and running the
rest through the sewers to get rid OF
it, the sugar manufacturers are now
furnishing the dried pulp to dairy
men wherever they may happen to be
located, By the ton or carload, packed
in sacks about like bran, one ton Of
the dried pulp representing 20 tons
of the fresh pulp.
In Germany, where beet sugar
production has reached its finest
development and both the government
and the individual endeavor to dis
cover the most valuable use to which
any natural product may be put, it
was first seen that beet pulp ought to
be dried to be of full value, and the
government offered a large reward for
the best method of handling it. A
satisfactory process was worked out
which has since been used in Ger
many. Two or three years ago 1t was
adopted by several of the California
sugar factories; and soon beet pulp
will be fed everywhere on the Coast.
as it already is in the eastern states,
where an output OF between ninety
and a hundred thousand tons this
season failed to meet the demand and
pulp had to be imported from Europe
to supply the shortage. 1t will be
fed wherever any concen trates are fed
and it will also be the dairymen'
principal succulent feed, for when
the dried pulp is soaked for a short
time it will take up from six to eight
times it's weight in moisture, becom-
ing about like the fresh beets when
sliced.
No dairyman nowadays needs to be
told that his COWS must have succu-
lence If they are to do their best in
milk production. If fresh pasture is
the ideal food for dairy cattle and
they give more milk and better milk
during that part of the year when
they are getting their fill of green
pasture, then winter or dryseason
feed that comes as near as posi- BILE
to giving the same returns is certain
ly necessary.
Silage is one of the best forms of
succulence that dairymen know any
thing about. but it has some dis
advantages. The first cost OF erecting
silo is likely to be anywhere from
5000 to $500, besides the labor and
expense involved in cutting and haul
ing the crop to fill it each season,
and the cost of keeping it In repair.
Experiments have shown that Indian
corn makes better silage than any
other crop, and perhaps 80 per cent
of all the silage made is from corn.
This kind of silage, according to reli
able analysis, contains about one
percent OF diRestible protein and ap-
proximately Ia per cent of digestible
carbohydrates, so it is evident Its
real value lies not so much in its food