Mr. T. J. Durrance, Brighton, Florida, the first farmer in United States
to use mechanical dewatering on forage crops was also the first man to feed
dewatered forages as soilage. He has made many favorable observations while
feeding beef and dairy cows and calves large quantities of fresh press-cake
and dewatered-dehydrated millet, sorghum, alfalfa, corn, and pangola grass
forages. According to Mr. Durrance, the forages lost their laxative effects
and the animals consumed a higher level of dry matter as forage. This reduced
the quantity of concentrates they needed and made it necessary to re-evaluate
the ration with respect to balance and nutrient content.

 A Historical Note

 The studies at the Everglades Experiment Station are in a sense a continua-
tion of experiments in which the senior author took part as early as 1939.
During this time period, equipment manufacturers have made marked improvements
in mechanical dewatering presses and the process has become a standard practice
in many enterprises, including Florida's citrus by-product feed industry.

 Again America bows to Europe's technology. The British have continued to
work on high-pressure mechanical dewatering systems as they apply to different
green plant materials. Italian workers have apparently done much more work on
forage crop materials, using a low pressure press of a type or design much like
the unit herein described. Reports indicate that Italian press units are used
on a wide scale, either involved in custom work or used by cooperatives made up
of 4 to 5 small farmers.
 Table 1
 Amounts of Forage Required for 20 Pounds of Dry Matter

 Percent Moisture Pounds of Grass Required

 90 200
 85 133
 80 100oo
 70 66
 65': 57



 Dry Supplemental Feeds

 Haymaking and even field wilting a forage crop have proved to be impractical
 in south Florida when crop growths represent their highest feed values. Due to
 the excessive moisture therein, thermal dehydration plants in the past have failed
 economically to reduce succulent materials into dry feeds.

 This statement takes on real significance when authorities stated in the
 spring of 1958, that between 75,000 to 275,000 cattle died in south Florida dur-
 ing the past winter. Actual deaths were usually credited to a direct result of
 starvation after a "very-unusual-winter" or water that had killed off the pasture
 grasses.

 Data in table 2, when considered in respect to the typical moisture percen-
 tages that exist in south Florida's forages when in top-quality condition, gives
 an old economic justification for the non-existence of supplemental feeds from