22 



but small amounts of lime or other mineral ingredients. Whether 

 lime in the form of purely mineral salts, such as carbonate or sulphate 

 present in water, is as good a source of lime for the animal as the 

 organic combination present in plants is not definitely known. 



In fodder plants and other feeding stuffs the variation in lime con- 

 tent is quite wide, as noted above. There are three factors influencing 

 this variation which should be considered in this connection: 



(1) Different species of plants growing under the same conditions 

 have the power of taking up from the soil and incorporating in the 

 plant tissues different amounts of inorganic substances. As an example 

 of this, sorghum and alfalfa growing side by side were found on analy- 

 sis to contain mineral constituents as follows: Sorghum — potash, 0.41 

 per cent; lime, 0.05 per cent, and phosphoric acid, 0.15 per cent; 

 alfalfa — potash, 0.84 per cent; lime, 0.45 per cent, and phosphoric 

 acid, 0.30 per cent. 



(2) Plants of the same species grown upon different soils may contain 

 different amounts of ash ingredients. If an ash ingredient is present 

 in the soil in a soluble form in large excess over the needs of the plant 

 the plant tissues will contain an excess of this ingredient. A marked 

 example of this was noted in comparing sisal fiber from Sisal Planta- 

 tion with a similar specimen from the experiment station. The total 

 ash in each was approximately the same. In the case of the fiber from 

 Sisal Plantation, where the soil is disintegrated coral, 40 per cent of the 

 ash was lime, while in that from the experiment station, where the soil 

 contains less than 1 per cent lime, the amount in the sisal ash was but 

 7 per cent. 



(3) Different parts of the same plant contain different amounts of 

 ash ingredients. In other words, the mineral matter taken from the 

 soil becomes localized in the plant. Seeds are rich in phosphorus, 

 leaves and straw in potash, and old mature cells richer in lime than 

 growing parts. 



It may be said in general that a deficiency of lime in fodder may be 

 met b}^ growing a larger proportion of leguminous crops for green 

 fodder; by feeding such concentrates as algeroba beans and waste 

 molasses or products made from it; by supplying limewater or natural 

 water containing more lime, and by the application of lime, or fertili- 

 zers containing lime, to soils used for growing forage crops of the 

 grass family. Possibly leached-wood ashes sprinkled over the fodder 

 might also prove useful, as has been suggested by some writers. 



For range cattle the introduction of legumes on the ranges, or such 

 grasses as may be found to take more lime from the soil, are the most 

 obvious remedies. 



Hals" suggests that a deficiency in lime may be remedied hy adding* 

 suitable mineral matter to the ration, precipitated dibasic calcium 



«Loc. cit. 



