Abstract

Work was started in 1935 at Coimbatore, under a scheme financed by the Imperial Council of Agricultural Research, to study the requirements of calves and cows for calcium and phosphorus. The experimental animals were fed with rations containing known amounts of the minerals, and the quantities excreted were determined by subtracting the quantities excreted from the quantities fed the quantities retained in the body of the animals were determined. If more was consumed than excreted, the animals were considered to be getting sufficient for their needs, and if the quantity excreted was more than that con sumed, the animals were considered as not getting sufficient for their needs. The requirements for a given mineral were estimated by the quantity required to be consumed to just balance the amount excreted.

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