78 THE INDIAN JOURNAL OF VETERINARY SCIENCE AND ANIMAL HUSBANDRY [ III, I
poor in nitrogen as well. Table VIII gives a comparative statement showing the
minerals present in the soil and the herbage.
TABLE VIII.
Mineral contents of soil and herbage.
|
— |
Paddock No. 3 |
Paddock No. 35 |
Paddock No. 32 |
Paddock No. 38 |
||||
|
Soil |
Grass |
Soil |
Grass |
Soil |
Grass |
Soil |
Grass |
|
|
Per cent. |
Per cent. |
Per cent. |
Per cent. |
Per cent. |
Per cent. |
Per cent. |
Per cent. |
|
|
CaO . . . . |
0.14 |
0.528 |
0.28 |
0.566 |
0.28 |
0.556 |
0.11 |
0.571 |
|
P2O5 Total . . . |
0.05 |
0.396 |
0.05 |
0.402 |
0.04 |
0.420 |
0.03 |
0.373 |
|
K2O Total . . . |
0.23 |
1.172 |
0.45 |
1.418 |
0.31 |
1.245 |
0.15 |
1.343 |
|
Nitrogen . . . |
0.042 |
0.801 |
0.072 |
0.952 |
0.074 |
0.801 |
0.057 |
0.836 |
(NOTE.—The values for grass represent the means for whole period of eighteen months.)
There was apparently no correlation between the minerals in the soil and
herbage. The slight differences in the calcium content of the soils of the four
Paddocks do not show in the grass though Paddock No. 3 has a calcium content
which is half of that in Paddocks 35 and 32. The corresponding values for the
grasses in the three Paddocks vary only by 0.3 — 0.4 per cent. which is not
significant. The same applies to the phosphoric acid, nitrogen and potash contents.
Paddock 35 alone had a slightly higher nitrogen content in the herbage grown on it.
The only differences observed was that the variation during the course of the
experimental period was most marked in the case of protein in the herbage of
Paddock No. 38 when the minimum value was 1.78 per cent. while the maximum
value went up to 11.48 per cent., and Paddock No. 38 was rather poor in nitrogen.
The significance of this high range of variation is difficult to assess.
The response to manuring with nitrogenous fertilisers is the subject of an
investigation in progress.
THE NITROGEN—PHOSPHORIC ACID CORRELATION.
During the course of the investigation it was pointed out by the author [1930]
that there existed a parallelism between the nitrogen and phosphoric acid contents
of the herbage under investigation, and that the relationship pointed to the fact
that the nitrogen and phosphoric acid occurred together in combination. It was
also pointed out that the lack of correlation of P and Ca was indicative of there
being no combination of the two constituents, since they varied inversely through-
out the period. With this observation in view, the analytical results were subject