14 



MISC. PUBLICATION 3 69, U. S. DEPT. OF AGRICULTURE 



lands. Where this practice was observed, the so-called hospital lands 

 have been either on sandy loam or on one with a sandy clay strata 

 from 15 to 30 inches below the surface." 



It was found that salt sickness occurred on both calcareous and 

 low-lime soils, and it was believed that this indicated that the disease 

 was not related to calcium deficiency. The soils associated with 

 salt-sick were Dade sand, Leon sand, Leon fine sand, Portsmouth fine 

 sand, Norfolk sand, and Norfolk fine sand. Those in the healthy 

 areas were the Bladen fine sand, Fellowship sandy loam, Gainesville 

 fine sand, Hernando sandy loam, Hernando sand, Lakewood sand, 

 Norfolk sand, Norfolk fine sand, Orangeburg loamy sand, Orangeburg 

 fine sandy loam, Orangeburg fine sand, and Ruston sand. The 

 average composition of each of these groups is given in table 6. The 

 authors explain that the Norfolk soils have a wide range of types and 

 phases which vary greatly in texture and natural fertility. This fact 

 may account for this group of soils occurring in both the "salt-sick" 

 and healthy ranges. 



Table 6. — Mineral composition of first foot of Florida soils in salt-sick and healthy 



areas 



[Bryan and Becker (94)] 



Description of area 



CaO 



P 2 s 



Fe 2 3 



Cu 



Silt and 

 clay 



PH 





Percent 

 0.050 

 .227 



Percent 

 0.027 

 .130 



Percent 

 0.057 

 .604 



P.p.m. 

 3.97 

 8.56 



Percent 

 4.3 

 9.9 



5.17 



Healthy .. ___ 



5.24 







Neal and Becker {428) examined samples of wire grass in 1933 from 

 many of the healthy and salt-sick areas in Florida. Their data show 

 that the mineral content of forage growing on burned areas is higher 

 than that growing on unburned areas, and that the calcium and phos- 

 phorus are higher in forage from healthy areas than from salt-sick 

 areas. Unfortunately, their extensive iron data are open to question 

 because of the method of preparing the samples. 



A nutritional anemia in calves described as a deficiency of iron 

 was reported by Archibald and coworkers (12, 13) in 1938. They 

 concluded from their analyses that the iron content of the roughage 

 available to the animals in the abnormal areas was somewhat below 

 that for hays from other sections of the State and of the country 

 where such trouble is not experienced. 



A trouble referred to as "pica," "coast disease," or "coastiness" 

 was first observed in Australia about 1913, when it was claimed, 

 according to Filmer (182), that in certain areas of the Denmark 

 district of Western Australia farmers had been unable to rear calves 

 since first settling in the area. In some cases certain paddocks only 

 were affected, while adjacent ones were normal. Soil descriptions 

 were rather sketchy, but they indicate a similarity to some soils in 

 New Zealand. The disease is said to occur in various parts of Aus- 

 tralia (386). The investigations of Filmer and Underwood (183) in 

 1934 indicated that a deficiency of iron in the forage was not a cause of 

 coastiness, and in 1935 these authors (570) reported that a deficiency 

 of cobalt in the soil and herbage was a factor, while later investigations 

 by the same authors indicate that nickel is of importance (184). 



