MOLASSES FOR WORKING HORSES.

Press, Volume LV, Issue 10148, 22 September 1898, Page 3

MOLASSES FOR WORKING HORSES.

The scarcity of feed in tihe pastures this year has compelled farmers to make as much use of straw as possible as a substitute; and attention has frequently been drawn to the advisablenesa of adding molasses. Wβ understand that molasses and straw have ! been used this winter with much success, both in North Otago and Canterbury, as food for gheep and cattle, and that at least one fanner in the latter province has ob- j tamed satisfactory results by adding molasses to chaff given to working hrrses. We have heard, however, that some dairy farmers have had to discontinue feeding their cows upon straw and molasses owing to several deaths having occurred, but this may have resulted from the cows being allowed to eat too freely of this kind of fodder without the addition of something of a laxative character. At a recent meeting in Sydney of the Australasian Association for the Advancement of Science, Mr T. W. Walton, B.Sc, read a paper on the economic feeding of working horses, in which he described some feeding trials conducted on a large scale, in which molasses formed an important part of the diet. In Fiji the Colonial Sugar Eefining Company have about 1000 head of farm horses, which until a few years ago, were fed chiefly on oats and maize, witlh some green cane tops in addition. But this did not prove satisfactory in the trying tropical climate. Sickness was frequent, and the death rate high, while the charge for fodder was very heavy. As large quantities of waste molasses were available, it was thought well to investigate whether the sugar in this material might not be advantageously used as a substitute for some of the starch in the ordinary food. The use of beet molasses for feeding dairy cattle and fattening stock has in certain parts of Europe proved highly satisfactory, but cane molasses contains much less nitrogen than beet molasses, the Fiji article having only one fifth of what is usually present in the beet product, and being therefore theoretically less valuable for feeding purposes. THE RESULTS OBTAINED. When these trials were commenced care was taken to begin with only small quantities of the new fodder, lest the high proportion of salts should prove too laxative. Horses unaccustomed to sugar do not like it at first, but the sweet taste is soon acquired, after which they will eat it in preference to any other food. With the growing appetite for it, the quantity of molasses was gradually increased till as much as 301b per day was regularly given to many of the animals. This large proportion was, after a time, however, reduced bo ,151b—not by reason, of any ill-effect beyond a tendency to fatten, but because it was considered too risky an experiment with so much valuable stock. Contrary to expectations, the molasses dietproduced constipation, instead of being laxative, and a few pounds of bran had to be given daily to keep the bowels in order. This result bears out what we stated above as to the effect of feeding cows to freely upon a diet of straw and molasses. The ration finally adopted was: 151b molasses, 31b of bran, and 41b of maize per day, with as much green cane-tops as the animal can eat, the molasses being mixed with the bran and chopped cane-tops. It may be mentioned that on one occasion, when the supply of maize ran out, and had to be replaced by some additional molasses and cane-tops, the loss of it for a month or two did not seem to affect in the least the health or working power of the horses. It has not yet, however, been decided to discontinue altogether the ilse , of maize, and the ration ieferred to (151b molasses, 3 bran and 4 maize) has now been given daily to the whole stock of over four hundred horses at RaraJwai Plantation for nearly two years. The result is entirely satisfactory.. There has been no undue fattening or injury to the wind, and no tendency to excessive perspiration or softness. In the early stages of the trials a dozen of the animals were weighed once a month, the average weight at the start being 12731b. After the first month there was an average loss of weight of 151b per head; after the second month 4£lb of the loss had been recovered; and after the third month there was a further gain of 16£lb, making a gain over the whole period of 61b per head. Sickness, which formeiiy was frequent, is now uncommon, and the horses are capable of performing harder and more qontinuous work. The improvement in tuis respect is so great that while the area of cultivation has been largely increased it has not been necessary to make any addition to the former working. stock. It is worthy of mention that at a second plantation in Fiji, to which the molasses system of feeding has been extended, the same satisfactory results were not at first obtained, and it was only after a considerable time that the cause .of failure was discovered. The molasses had to be pumped into a storage tank, but proving too thick to be taken readily by the pump, it was thinned out with water by the engineer. Fenrrtantation soon commenced, and the stock began to suffer from purging, which was for a time wrongly attributed to the molasses. THE FINANCIAL CONSIDERATION. The cost in Fiji in 1893 to feed the horses which were subjected to the experiment, with oats as the staple food, was £13 3s per head per annum, and in 1897 this had been reduced to *£4 2s 2d, being a saving" of over £9 per head per annum. Such a saving, however, has only been possible by reason of large quantities' of waste molasses and valueless cane tops being available on the spot. Cane tops cannot, in ordinary circumstances, be procured for horse feed by tihe farmer, though lucerne or any fresh grass is even more suitable. Then, for molasses, wJijch at a sugar mill have little or nio value, a price has elsewhere to be paid to cover the cost of carriage and handling. But this is not all, for the customs tariff makes the use of molasses for feeding purposes almost prohibitive in all the Australasian colonies in which it is not produced. Yet it is pointed out even in the colonies where duty is charged, it is a question whether it would not pay to use a certain proportion of molasses, containing, as it does, more digestible matter than oats, though much less nitrogen, especially as it will often render palatable some dry food that is not otherwise readily eaten. THE CONCLUSIONS AHRTVED AT. The conclusions, it may fairly be claimed, that can be drawn from the trials that have been made in Fiji are:—l. That for working horses the sugar in cane mblasses is a satisfactory substitute for starchy food, being readily digested and transformed into work. 2. That 151 Dof the molasses can be given per day to a 12701b working horse, with advantage to the health of the animal and to the efficiency of its work. 3. That it produces no undue fattening, softness, nor injury to the wind. 4. That the high proportion of salts in it has no injurious effect. 5. That an albuminoid ratio as low as one to 11.81b of digestible carbohydrates, including fat, has proved highly suitable for heaw, continuous work, when a sufficient quantity of digestible matter is given.