Agricultural Research in New Hampshire 



tolerance of cattle to the daily intake of cobalt. Results to date indicate 

 that amounts normally used by feed manufacturers are well within lim- 

 its of safety. 



Plant work includes a comparison of the cobalt content of alsike 

 clover and timothy grown on soils of granite and calcareous parent ma- 

 terial. Both clover and timothy grown on calcareous soil contained more 

 cobalt than plants of the same species and stage of maturity grown on a 

 soil of granite origin. In both cases, the clover contained considerably 

 more cobalt than timothy grown on the same soil, indicating another su- 

 periority of clover. Soil studies indicated a strong relationship between 

 cobalt deficiency and the kind of rock from which the parent soil ma- 

 terials were derived. 



H. A. Keener, G. P. Percival, K. S. Morrow 



Dry Rations for Raising Dairy Calves and Heifers 



The major phases of this project as originally outlined have been 

 completed. During the year, however, an analysis was made of the data 

 concerning the values of several blood constituents of calves under five 

 months of age. The components studied were carotene, ascorbic acid, 

 nicotinic acid, calcium, phosphorus, glucose, cholesterol, and non-protein 

 nitrogen. Guernsey, Holstein, and Jersey calves were used in the study. 



Considerably lower values were obtained for plasma carotene with 

 Holsteins than for either of the other breeds. Breed differences with 

 respect to ascorbic acid values were not significant for calves of the age 

 range studies. There was no correlation found between age and blood 

 calcium and phosphorus; on the other hand, blood glucose showed a 

 definite decrease with age. Cholesterol values tended to parallel the re- 

 sults found for glucose, those of the greatest magnitude being in the 

 voungest age group. Non-protein nitrogen values were in good agree- 

 ment with those reported for older animals in other studies. As for the 

 nicotinic acid results, extensive data are lacking in the literature with 

 which to make comparisons, although the values secured in this study can, 

 when supplemented by further investigations, be of considerable signi- 

 ficance in the establishment of what might be considered the normal 

 range of values for this vitamin in the blood of calves. 



Normal growth curves, based on month and season of birth, are being 

 prepared from growth data on 250 calves raised in the University dairy 

 herd. 



K. S. Morrow, H. A. Keener, A. E. Teeri 



The Effect of Vitamin D on the Metabolism 



And Utilization of Energy and Protein by Calves 



The effect of Vitamin D on the utilization of protein and energy 

 was studied on two groups of Holstein calves. Each group consisted of 

 two deficient animals and a control animal which was fed 1000 U. S. P. 

 units of Vitamin D per 100 pounds of body weight per day by means of 

 irradiated yeast. The basal ration consisted of skimmilk, a low Vitamin 

 D concentrate mixture, and dried beet pulp as the roughage. Nitrogen 



