Magnatonic Products, Inc., Opens Nov. 12
New Knoxville, Ohio, Oct. 27—Magnatonic Products, Inc., producers of Magnatone supplement for livestock feeding, will open its new plant here on Saturday, November 12, according to an announcement made today by E. R. Kuck, general manager.
Kuck stated that open house will be observed at the plant from 2 p. m. to 7:30 p. m., followed by a program in the high school auditorium. U. S. Senator Robert A. Taft will be the main speaker at the evening program which will include a showing of the film “Across the Fence” produced by Dr. Albrecht of the soils department of the University of Missouri.
The organization of Magnatonic Products Inc., which specializes in the blending and mixing of mineral and vitamin supplements for livestock feed and the sale of dolomite lime for fertilizing purposes, is the outgrowth of years of experimentation and research at Brookside farms, New Knoxville, which are owned and operated by Kuck.
Things were not going too well with the Guernsey herd and calves at Brookside farms in 1944. In that year out of 121 calves born, 49 died of white scours. The calves as a whole were born weak with slow reflexes and no appetites. Dietary scours developed in all of the cases and 50 percent of the cases were accompanied by a low type of pneumonia. Calves that lived through the first 90 days showed remarkable recuperative ability and matured to good size without any sign of calfhood disorders.
Kuck, confronted with this economic loss spent thousands of dollars trying to find a practicable cure, but without success. He then decided to build a new modern calf and maternity barn, to be constructed of clay tile building blocks and modern in every respect with ample ventilation and lighting and finished inside with a two coat plaster application. The building was started in November, 1944 and was put to use on April 15, 1945.
When the building was opened for use the experience with the calves remained the same. The most startling event in the new barn was that the calves started eating the finish coat of plaster from the walls but the stalls on which rough plaster only had been used remained untouched. From this startling observation and the experiments and research that followed grew Magnatonic Products, Inc.
A chemical analysis from the manufacturer of the plaster revealed that the finish coat was made from a heavy dolomite lime with a high magnesium content. The answer then appeared to be a magnesium deficiency in the feed.
A change in the mineral mixture of the feed by the addition of dolomite lime produced favorable results. The calves in the barn were fed milk from cows receiving this new mineral mixture and in two weeks there was a noticeable change. The calves became more alert, the scours condition cleared from the older calves, and there was a general increase in the thirst for water on the part of all calves between feedings.
During the latter part of October, 1945, the finish plaster coat was put on the walls in the remaining stalls in the barn and not a single tooth mark was visible on any of them.
Brookside farms did not stop in their experimenting in their laboratory as soon as the calves became normal, but began work on a formula for a fertilizer that could be applied to the soil. The results of these experiments and tests brought forth a fertilizer that would produce crops that were high in mineral content as revealed in tests for animal feeding.