Aug. 15,1925 
Effect of Sodium in a Wheat Ration 
373 
while 14 or 15 gms. of feed per day in B did supply that much, and 
much better growth and reproduction resulted. Smaller amounts 
of feed in rations C, D, E, and F furnished this amount of sodium, 
with greater economy in food consumption, there was better repro¬ 
duction, and the gains were more rapid than was the case on ration 
A. The average daily gain in grams per rat for the two different 
periods is shown as follows: 
A 
B 
C 
D 
E 
F 
G 
H 
4 H months... 
0.30 
1.13 
0.99 
0.78 
0.82 
0.70 
0.56 
0.42 
9 months... 
.34 
.7 
.66 
.48 
.50 
.35 
.33 
zoo 
/90 
/30 
/70 
/60 
Z&O 
/ 4-0 
/SO 
/20 
//O 
\ /OO 
X 90 
\ eo 
70 
eo 
s-o 
&o 
30 
20 
/O 
With the larger amounts of sodium consumed per day in rations 
G and H, there was a lower average daily gain and a poorer economy 
of feed. 
It is evident that the variations 
in growth were not due to the 
nature of the proteins or to lack 
of vitamin A or vitamin B—be¬ 
cause the best gains resulted 
when the intakes of these essen¬ 
tials were less. 
The animals on rations C and 
D seemed to have, a tendency 
to produce young at an earlier 
age than those on the other ra¬ 
tions. There was a marked 
group difference in the coats of 
the various lots. The hair was 
very fine in lot A, and coarser 
in lots B, C, and D. The coat 
of lot C was of excellent quality. 
'1 - 
} 
v 
• 
i 
'WA 
<—» 
S. 
Fig. 6.—Composite growth curves for male and female 
rats fed on ration E 
DISCUSSION 
It has been found that rats 
not only maintain themselves but 
mak§ some growth on wheat 
grown in the Pacific Northwest 
when this wheat is supplemented with gluten, butterfat, and calcium 
chloride. The addition of sodium seemed to make it possible for 
the rats to reproduce and successfully care for their young. The lot 
A rats were later transferred to the lot B ration, and 30 days later 
one of the females gave birth to four young. 
Various combinations of mineral supplementation have been 
studied, and some of them have produced results similar to those 
reported by the Wisconsin Experiment Station. The altering of 
the mineral supplement has caused different degrees of improvement. 
Although the writers’ work shows a higher sodium requirement than 
that shown by the work of some other investigators, it must be con¬ 
sidered that the animals used in the present investigations were put 
on the various rations as soon as they were weaned and therefore 
61911—25f-6 
