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Jan, 1908.] 33 Scientific Agriculture. 



SALT THE BEST OF CONDIMENTS. 



Do you give your livestock sufficient salt ? It ia surprising that although 

 salt cellars are placed regularly upon our tables, our domestic animals are in this 

 respect neglected. Auimals require their salt quite as much as we do, and it is a 

 refinement of cruelty to deprive them of ifc. Every meadow, every farmyard, every 

 stable, every shippen, should be provided with the equivalent of our salt cellar in 

 the shape of lumps of rocksalt. Horses, cattle, and sheep are equally fond of salt, 

 and suffer if it is not supplied them. Wild animals travel immense distances in 

 search of salt. Salt marshes are the favourite pastures. The desire for this natural 

 condiment is therefore instinctive. Salt is admittedly the surest preventive of rot 

 in sheep and other diseases. By improving the appetite, salt hastens fattening. 

 A properly salted diet has a marked effect upon the condition and appearances of 

 horses, giving a finer and smoother coat. An excellent preventive of gall is to 

 bathe the horse's shoulders each evening with salt water. Wash the shoulders with 

 clear water first. It cools and reduces inflammation. 



The following reasons why salt should be regularly supplied to farm stock 

 are given in an able and comprehensive article entitled " The Importance of salt as 

 an article of Diet," by Professor A. P. Aitken, D.Sc.inthe Veterinarian. 



1. Because in the blood of animals there is six or seven times more sodium 

 than potassium, and that the composition of the blood is constant. 



2. To keep animals in good health a definite amount of common salt must 

 be assimilated. 



3. The excess of potassium salts in vegetable foods causes by chemical 

 exchange an abnormal loss of common salt. This is proved by the fact that the 

 craving of an animal for common salt is most noticeable when the food contains a 

 large proportion of potassium salts, such as wheat, barley, oats, potatoes, beans, 

 and peas. 



4. The addition of salt to animal food increases the appetite, promotes the 

 repair of tissue by its searching diffusion through the body, and stimulates the 

 rapid using up of its waste products. 



5. Boussingault's experiments showed that salt increases muscular vigour 

 and activity, and improves their general appearance and condition. 



MILK PRODUCTION AND SALT. 



(Reprinted by permission from "Farm, Field and Fireside.") 

 " Free access to salt is advantageous to livestock, a fact which has not been 

 so widely accepted as could have been expected. It is regarded generally as import- 

 ant from a health point of view, but it is doubtful whether many are aware of the 

 influence which salt may have on the production of milk. If a cow is in good and 

 sturdy health, it may be expected to produce more and better milk than an animal 

 in poor condition. Experiments have recently been made to ascertain whether the 

 giving of salt to dairy cows has any direct bearing on the supply of milk, and the 

 results have been of a character which will be surprising to many who attach little 

 importance to providing salt for their cattle. Salt they must have in some form or 

 other, and if it is supplied to them in suitable quantities and ways, they will take 

 sufficient and no more for their own benefit. For about a month, from June 20th to 

 July 18th, three cows were kept without salt, and the milk from each weighed twice 

 daily from the 4th to 18th July, when they gave 454 lb. From July 18th to August 

 1st the same cows received 4 oz. of salt each, and during that time the milk showed 

 an increase of 1101b.; the weight being 564 1b. From this experiment it appears 

 that there was a considerable gain, which would pay admirably anyone to keep his 

 stock well supplied with salt ; and it may also be added as another good custom to 

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