  The low temperature magnetization process of the
ferromagnetic-antiferromagnetic Heisenberg chain is studied using the
interacting boson approximation. In the low field regime and near the
saturation field, the spin wave excitations are approximated by the $\delta$
function boson gas for which the Bethe ansatz solution is available. The finite
temperature properties are calculated by solving the integral equation
numerically. The comparison is made with Monte Carlo calculation and the limit
of the applicability of the present approximation is discussed.
