MAINTENANCE OF FARM ANIMALS 73 



plenty of it in the other foods they eat. The water-soluble vitamine is 

 also called ^water-soluble B" and " vitamine B." 



So far as our present knowledge goes, the third vitamine, the anti- 

 scorbutic vitamine, which prevents scurvy, is of little or even no impor- 

 tance at all in the feeding of all classes of farm animals. Quite probably 

 farm animals in general require such small amounts of this vitamine 

 that all rations fed to them furnish ample amounts. In feeding humans, 

 monkeys, and guinea pigs, however, this vitamine must be furnished or 

 scurvy will result. This vitamine is supplied by fresh fruits and vege- 

 tables, milk, and fresh meat, but is low in the cereals. It is easily 

 destroyed by prolonged cooking or drying at high temperatures. 



Recent investigations suggest the existence of a fourth vitamine, the 

 anti-rachitic vitamine, or the preventive of rickets. The disease called 

 rickets, which seriously affects the bones, may be caused by a lack of 

 calcium or phosphorus in the food or a failure of the body to assimilate 

 these minerals. It often affects children, and growing pigs frequently 

 suffer from it. especially in winter. Possibly the anti-rachitic vitamine 

 may be the same as the fat-soluble vitamine , for cod-liver oil, which is 

 exceedingly rich in the fat-soluble vitamine, cures rickets. However, 

 other substances which are also rich in the fat-soluble vitamine are said 

 not to be remedies for rickets. Therefore a separate vitamine may exist 

 in cod-liver oil and certain other substances. (918) 



Appendix Table VIII indicates the relative amounts of vitamines in 

 some of the more important feeds, as far as information is available. 



105. Requirements of satisfactory rations. The facts which have been 

 emphasized in this chapter make it clear thatxfor health and even life 

 itself it is not sufficient that animals receive merely plenty of protein, 

 carbohydrates, and fat. It is just as essential: (1) that the food protein 

 be not only ample in amount but also of the right kind, (2) that there 

 be an adequate supply of mineral matter, and (3) that the food contain 

 enough of the vitamines. 



If the ration lacks any of these factors, the results will be unsatis- 

 factory, the health of the animal may be injured, and death may even 

 result. Fortunately, with horses, cattle, and sheep fed balanced rations 

 containing plenty of good roughage, there is little danger of trouble from 

 any of these sources. With swine not on pasture there is much more 

 chance of the ration being incomplete, even when it is balanced so as to 

 supply plenty of protein. This is because swine are commonly fed chiefly 

 on the cereal grains. These not only have proteins of unbalanced nature, 

 but also they are low in lime and, with the exception of yellow corn, 

 contain but little fat-soluble vitamine. Poultry also often suffer from 

 inadequate rations. Because of the importance of these new discoveries 

 and the wide-spread interest in them, special emphasis is given thruout 

 this volume to all practical applications of these factors which have thus 

 far been brought to light. 



