374 
Journal of Agricultural Research 
Vol. XXXI, No. 4 
had less opportunity to benefit from any sodium which might be 
stored up by older animals. There is also no variation of other 
elements in these rations, and the reproduction records and the 
record of the total food requirement have been taken into consider¬ 
ation. 
Analyses show marked differences in the mineral composition of 
wheat. These differences may have been partly responsible for the 
failure noted in the Wisconsin experiments. The success attained at 
the Washington Experiment Station following adjustments of 
minerals has pointed to the importance of ions rather than salts. 
The success experienced in raising livestock on wheat rations on 
the farms of the Pacific Northwest has been believed to be due largely 
to the salts in the soils and water, and to the amount of mineral in 
the wheat. The opinion has been held that the potassium carbonate 
used with the Wisconsin wheat should have been replaced by sodium 
carbonate, or, at least, by sodium bicarbonate or some organic salt 
of sodium. On the basis of the results obtained here, it appears that 
the substitution of sodium for the potassium in the Wisconsin rations 
might have entirely altered the results there. 
SUMMARY 
A study has been made of the effect of a variation of sodium in a 
wheat ration on growth and reproduction. The ration containing 
no more sodium than the amount present in the wheat was not 
accompanied by normal growth or successful reproduction. The 
addition of sodium in the form of sodium bicarbonate was accom¬ 
panied by much better growth and successful reproduction. Large 
amounts of sodium caused detrimental effects. From the results it 
appears that 0.23 per cent of sodium is too small an amount, 0.53 
per cent is the most satisfactory when both growth and repro¬ 
duction are considered, and that 0.785 per cent and amounts above 
this are detrimental. 
It is also thought that a proper adjustment of the amount of 
sodium in the ration caused an economy in the use of feed. In the 
rations which proved the most successful, the animal consumed 
an amount of feed which furnished approximately 40 mgms. of 
sodium per animal. 
Growth and reproduction were successful on a wheat ration which 
was corrected for certain nutritional deficiencies. 
LITERATURE CITED 
(1) Armsby, H. P. v 
1917. the nutrition of farm animals. 743 p., illus. New York. 
(2) Forbes, E. B. 
1909. THE MINERAL ELEMENTS IN ANIMAL NUTRITION. Ohio Agr. Exp. 
Sta. Bui. 201: 129-172. 
(3) - 
1909. THE BALANCE BETWEEN INORGANIC ACIDS AND BASES IN ANIMAL 
nutrition. Ohio Agr. Exp. Sta. Bui. 207: 23-52. 
( 4 ) -Beegle, F. M., and Mensching, J. E. 
1913. MINERAL AND ORGANIC ANALYSES OF FOODS. Ohio Agr. Exp. Sta. 
Bui. 255: 211-231. 
(5) ^-and Keith, M. H. 
1914. A REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE OF PHOSPHORUS COMPOUNDS IN 
animal metabolism. Ohio Agr. Exp. Sta. Tech. Bui. 5, 748 p. 
(6) -Beegle, F. M., Fritz, C. M., Morgan, L. E., and Rhue, S. N 
1916. THE MINERAL METABOLISM OF THE MILCH COW. Ohio Agr. Exp. 
Sta. Bui. 295: 323-348. 
