The Vitamin E Content of Certain Dairy Feeds

A study was made of the vitamin E content of each of the ingredients of our dairy herd ration, excepting the salt, lime, and bone meal. Female rats which were able to conceive but unable to reproduce when fed a diet deficient in vitamin E were fed the various feeds as a source of vitamin E during a second breeding period. The presence of vitamin E in a feed was thus shown by the ability of the female to cast a litter. The vitamin E content of bran, shorts, linseed oil meal, hominy feed, white corn, yellow corn, cottonseed meal, kafir, beet pulp, corn gluten feed, corn gluten meal, and alfalfa was examined. Twenty to twenty-five per cent of the bran, shorts, linseed oil meal, hominy feed, white corn, yellow corn, cottonseed meal, kafir, or alfalfa furnished sufficient vitamin E to allow the rats to cast litters. On the other hand, forty per cent of the corn gluten meal, the corn gluten feed, or the beet pulp furnished very little vitamin E. There was no significant difference in the vitamin E content of the white and yellow corn used

The Vitamin A Content of Sour Cream Butter, Sweet Cream Butter, and Margarines

Nineteen samples of margarine were obtained from Illinois, Ohio and Nebraska. They were analyzed chemically and the vitamin A content of each one was compared with that of either sour-cream or sweet-cream butter. The fat content of the butter samples varied from 80.2 to 81.5 per cent, while the fat content of the margarine samples varied from 78 .3 to 89.2 per cent. From the results it was evident that these samples of margarine were very poor sources of vitamin A when compared with butter. One of the margarine samples caused an average gain of 10 grams per rat and another caused an average gain of 25 grams per rat when fed at the rate of 1 cc. daily for eight weeks. In every other case the rats fed margarine showed a final loss in weight and most of them did not survive the experiment. Butter was fed at a daily rate equal to one-tenth or one-twentieth of the quantity of margarine fed in all cases but one, and the rats survived and gained, the smallest gain averaging 45 grams and the largest 111 grams during the eight-weeks period

The Vitamin A Content of Sour Cream Butter, Sweet Cream Butter, and Margarines

Nineteen samples of margarine were obtained from Illinois, Ohio and Nebraska. They were analyzed chemically and the vitamin A content of each one was compared with that of either sour-cream or sweet-cream butter. The fat content of the butter samples varied from 80.2 to 81.5 per cent, while the fat content of the margarine samples varied from 78 .3 to 89.2 per cent. From the results it was evident that these samples of margarine were very poor sources of vitamin A when compared with butter. One of the margarine samples caused an average gain of 10 grams per rat and another caused an average gain of 25 grams per rat when fed at the rate of 1 cc. daily for eight weeks. In every other case the rats fed margarine showed a final loss in weight and most of them did not survive the experiment. Butter was fed at a daily rate equal to one-tenth or one-twentieth of the quantity of margarine fed in all cases but one, and the rats survived and gained, the smallest gain averaging 45 grams and the largest 111 grams during the eight-weeks period

Comparative Measurements of Holstein, Ayrshire, Guernsey, and Jersey Females from Birth to Seven Years

Body measurements are important for a proper understanding of how growth takes place in animals. Unfortunately, few growth data other than for weight have been published concerning dairy cattle. This is a report of measurements of females in the University of Nebraska dairy herd made as part of a long-time growth study. During the period 1922 to 1942 each animal born into the herd was weighed and measured at regular intervals. Presented here are the data for weight, height, length, width, depth, girth and hide thickness for females of the Holstein, Ayrshire, Guernsey, and Jersey breeds. The average body measurements are presented by three-month intervals from birth through 12 months, and by six-month intervals thereafter through 84 months

The Vitamin A and Carotene Content of Nebraska Butter

The vitamin-A, carotene, fat and moisture concentrations of Nebraska creamery butter were determined at monthly intervals for 25 months. Samples were obtained from 14 creameries located throughout the state. Their vitamin-A and carotene determinations were made with the aid of a spectrophotometer, and their fat and moisture analyses were determined by the A.O.A.C. methods. From a comparison of these data with the results of investigations in other states it was concluded that Nebraska butter was at least equal in vitamin-A value to average United States butter

The Use of Dried Whey and Blood Meal in the Raising of Calves on Limited Amounts of Milk

The use of substitutes for milk in the raising of calves is always of interest to the progressive dairyman, since there are a number of circumstances in which it is advantageous to reduce the milk feeding period. Producers of market milk often desire to raise their calves on as little milk as possible in order to have more milk available for market. When the demand for milk is good, dairymen who usually market cream only may prefer to sell milk and raise their calves on starters or other milk substitutes. Dairy farmers may wish to use the skim milk generally allowed the calves to replace a part of the protein concentrates used in swine and poultry production when these feeds become scarce or too high in price. In times of labor shortage, dairymen are especially interested in labor-saving methods, and usually methods which substitute dry feeds for liquid milk result in a saving of labor. When there is a scarcity of milk for human food, it may be desirable to raise dairy calves with as little milk as is practicable. Therefore, while there is normally an interest in methods of raising calves on limited amounts of milk, this interest often becomes acute in time of war scarcities. As a result of renewed interest in milk substitutes for calf feeding, this study was instigated--to determine the value of dried whey as a means of saving milk in the raising of calves, to demonstrate that calves can be raised with a limited amount of labor, and to find an additional use for whey, much of which is wasted annually

The Vitamin A and the Vitamin E Content of Field-Cured and Artificially Cured Alfalfa Hay

A comparative study of the vitamin A content of field-cured and artificially cured alfalfa was made by comparing the growth produced by 124 rats receiving alfalfa hay as their source of vitamin A. From the results of this study, in which the experiments were duplicated, it is concluded that under the conditions of these experiments the artificially cured alfalfa was twice as potent in vitamin A as was the field-cured alfalfa. The comparative study of the vitamin E content of these hays was made by comparing the number of litters produced by groups of female rats which received graded quantities of either field-cured or artificially cured alfalfa as their source of vitamin E. It is concluded that the artificial drying of the alfalfa tended to preserve its vitamin E content to a greater degree than did field curing

Carotene Content of Native Nebraska Grasses

The carotene content of twenty-four grasses native to Nebraska were determined at approximately monthly intervals from June to November. While the carotene concentration of most of the grasses was moderately high during the growing season, it declined to a rather low point by late November. With the exception of Switchgrass, Hairy Grama, Little Bluestem and Prairie Dropseed, all of the grasses contained enough carotene to supply the needs of range cattle until late November. However, only eighteen of the grasses still contained enough carotene by the latter part of September to furnish the carotene required by dairy cows. Even as early as July the Northern reedgrass, Buffalo grass, Bluejoint and Lovegrass were unsatisfactory as a source of carotene for dairy cows. While the carotene values observed during the periods of greatest concentration varied from 511.6 ppm (Sandhill bluestem) to 122.6 ppm (Northern reedgrass), these values ranged from 60.7 ppm (June grass) to 1.6 ppm (Little bluestem) during the periods of lowest concentration

The Vitamin A Content of Soybean Silage and of A.I.V., Molasses, and Common Corn Silages, and the Effect of Feeding these Materials upon the Vitamin A Content of Milk

A study was made of the vitamin A content of soybean silage, and of A.l.V., molasses, and common corn silage. The silages were fed to groups of cows and the vitamin A content of their milk determined. The vitamin A determinations were made by feeding the silage or the milk to groups of rats whose body stores of this vitamin had been depleted by being fed a vitamin-A-deficient ration. Approximately 780 rats were used in these experiments. There were no apparent ill effects of feeding as much as 3.2 grams of the A.l.V. silage per rat per day for eight weeks. This was 20 to 30 per cent of the food consumed. The A. l.V. silage contained only slightly more vitamin A than did the molasses silage. The ordinary corn silage contained less vitamin A than either the A.I.V. or molasses silage. The soybean silage was inferior to any of the other silages as a source of vitamin A. Milk produced by cows receiving these silages as the only source of roughage ranked in the same order of vitamin A potency as did the silages, namely A.I.V. silage, molasses silage, and common silage. On the other hand when a good g ade of alfalfa hay served as the only source of roughage, the milk produced contained more vitamin A than did the milk produced by cows receiving A.I.V. silage as the only roughage. In another experiment one group of cows was fed both molasses silage and alfalfa hay, while a second group received A.I.V. silage and alfalfa hay. The hay was fed ad libitum and the group which received the molasses silage consumed the most hay. In this instance the milk produced by the group receiving the molasses silage contained more vitamin A than did the milk produced by the A.l.V. silage group, which was probably due to the greater consumption of alfalfa hay

Can surface flux transport account for the weak polar field in cycle 23?

To reproduce the weak magnetic field on the polar caps of the Sun observed during the declining phase of cycle 23 poses a challenge to surface flux transport models since this cycle has not been particularly weak. We use a well-calibrated model to evaluate the parameter changes required to obtain simulated polar fields and open flux that are consistent with the observations. We find that the low polar field of cycle 23 could be reproduced by an increase of the meridional flow by 55% in the last cycle. Alternatively, a decrease of the mean tilt angle of sunspot groups by 28% would also lead to a similarly low polar field, but cause a delay of the polar field reversals by 1.5 years in comparison to the observations.Comment: 9 pages, 8 figures, Space Science Reviews, accepte