CATTLE EAT EARTH.
ATTACK ON MOUNTAIN-SIDE. STRANGE INSTANCE IN AFRICA. I t Oxen have eaten away 10,000 tons of earth from the side of a mountain in the Magaliesberg district, near Pretoria. Natural salt deposits, which cattle are-fond of licking, are common all over the world, but in this case the animals have apparently been making whole and satisfying meals from the earth itself. They have eaten a cave 100 ft high and 50ft across deep into the mountain-side—and they are still eating. The cattle have almost entirely given up eating grass, but they have the appearance of being thoroughly well fed. Samples of the earth from the cave have been sent in to Johannesburg analysts. It is easily crumbled into fine dust, and is practically tasteless to the human tongue. Though a detailed analysis has not yet been made, experts state that it appears to be a clay containing potash and mineral salts, which would make it attractive to cattle with an abnormal appetite.
Permanent link to this item
Hononga pūmau ki tēnei tūemi
https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/HPGAZ19291002.2.27
Bibliographic details
Ngā taipitopito pukapuka
Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXX, Issue 5482, 2 October 1929, Page 4
Word count
Tapeke kupu
165CATTLE EAT EARTH. Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXX, Issue 5482, 2 October 1929, Page 4
Using this item
Te whakamahi i tēnei tūemi
Stuff Ltd is the copyright owner for the Hauraki Plains Gazette. You can reproduce in-copyright material from this newspaper for non-commercial use under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International licence (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0). This newspaper is not available for commercial use without the consent of Stuff Ltd. For advice on reproduction of out-of-copyright material from this newspaper, please refer to the Copyright guide.
Log in