Sperm Production as a Guide to the Adequacy of a Diet for Farm Animals

Chemical analyses have shown a difference in the protein content and other components in lespedeza hay grown on treated and untreated soil. The lespedeza hay which was grown on untreated soil analyzed 13 per cent protein; that grown on the superphosphate treated soil, 13.8 per cent protein; and hays on lime or lime and superphosphate treated soils, 15.9 per cent and 15.25 per cent protein respectively. These hays were fed to male rabbits and the semen production studied.

Even though general thrift seemed to be maintained by all the animals, those receiving the hay grown on soil that had been treated with lime, or lime and superphosphate, produced appreciably more semen containing more sperm than did those on the hay grown on the untreated soil, or on the soil treated only with superphosphate.

Moreover, when the rabbits were shifted around so that those that had been getting the hay from the treated soil were given hay from the untreated soil, and vice versa, satisfactory sperm production continued to be associated with the hay grown on treated soil (lime or lime and superphosphate).