MISC. PUBLICATION 3 6 9, U. S. DEPT. OF AGRICULTURE 



The investigations of the New Zealand workers in connection with 

 the occurrence of bone diseases included many analyses of both pas- 

 tures and soils (34), observations of the characteristic flora of good 

 and affected pastures (32, 34), and descriptions of soils with particular 

 reference to parent materials (27, 32, 34). Thus an affected soil at 

 Martinborough was described as being quite heavy with a hardpan 

 formation in the flat lands, while a good soil in the same area was 

 classified as a clay loam derived from limestone (34). Many difficul- 

 ties with bone diseases were reported as occurring on certain soils 

 derived from an air-borne volcanic material in a region of heavy rain- 

 fall (32). The pH-value range was reported to vary from 5.0 to 5.8 

 for the affected soils and 6.1 to 6.3 for the better soils. 



An occurrence of a bone disease referred to as osteomalacia was 

 investigated in Norway by Tuff (567) in 1923. The disease was more 

 severe in dry years, but Tuff stated that there are also typically 

 osteomalacia districts where the disease occurs as an enzootic, inde- 

 pendent of the amount of rain. 



He reported that if hay from normal farms was given to the stock 

 affected with osteomalacia, or if the owner of a threatened farm hired 

 summer pasturage on a normal farm, his animals were not subject to 

 the disease. Conversely, animals moved to pasture on deficient soil 

 acquired the disease. Tuff examined the mountain rocks in the ab- 

 normal areas and reported that they contained only 0.002 percent of 

 P2O5, as compared with 2 percent in the substratum of the normal 

 areas. 



In 1926 Elliot and his coworkers (165), from their quite extensive 

 investigations in Great Britain of the effect of the mineral composition 

 of pastures on the health of the animal, concluded that a comparison 

 of the 



health, quality, and number of sheep grazing a pasture with the analytical data 

 for the individual (pasture) samples seem to indicate that the highest mortality 

 amongst the sheep * * * is found where the pasture shows the lowest per- 

 centage of mineral matter. It is interesting to compare the results for two very 

 poor pastures and a very rich pasture with the average results for cultivated 

 pastures. [See table 3.] As types of very poor pastures, the samples from the 

 island of Lewes and the Falkland Islands are taken. * * * there is a high 

 mortality amongst sheep in the Falkland Islands. Samples taken from the pad- 

 docks at Lord Astor's racing stables at Taplow, where the grass has received 

 special treatment to render it suitable for grazing for race horses, have been chosen 

 as representative of a very rich pasture. 



Table 3. — Composition of some British pastures 

 [Analyses of William Godden (211)] 





Composition of dry matter 



Locality 



Crude 

 protein 



K 



Na 



Ca 



P 



CI 





Percent 

 8.37 

 6.43 

 10.31 

 22.26 

 17.69 



Percent 

 0.563 

 .448 

 1.644 

 1.991 

 2.637 



Percent 

 0. 280 

 .281 

 .215 

 .518 

 .182 



Percent 

 0.204 

 .211 

 .161 

 1.767 

 .718 



Percent 

 0.106 

 .077 

 .213 

 .435 

 .321 



Percent 

 1.340 



Island of Lewes (not eaten) . . _ 



1.029 





1.650 





3. 562 





2.830 







The deficiency of mineral elements in the poor pastures is apparent. 

 Even the " eaten" areas in . the island of Lewes contain about one- 

 third as much calcium and phosphorus as well as only one-half the 



