r)2() KKl'oKT OK OKFICP: <)K' KXI'KKIMKNT STATIONS. 



\ . K. ( liosmit" published con.sid('ral)l(; data on the j){)i8onous plants 

 of tlii> stock iaiij::i's of the northern United States, the diseussion being 

 pai'tly based on tlie l)iilletin referred to above. 



Aceordin«>; to reeent (experiments at the Veruiont Station'' the com- 

 mon horsetail {KqiiixifKiii ttrre/hse) mny cause poison in<;- when present 

 in hay. It was found that when horses were fed cured hors(^tail (Mpial 

 in amount to not more tium on(>-fourth of their coarsc-fod(U'r I'ation 

 symptoms of poisoninj^ were noticed and, if the feeding wascontimied, 

 the horses died. The syniptoms of poisoning were less noticeable 

 with young than with old horses, and also when a liberal grain ration 

 wjis supplied. It was also observed that the green plant was less 

 harmful than the dry, possibh' owing to the fact that green fodder is 

 somewhat laxative. The experiments were made by F. A. Rich and 

 L. R. Jones. 



An important contribution to the subject of injurious feeding stuffs 

 has been made by A. T. Peters, S. Aver}-, and II. B. Slade' of the 

 Nebraska Station, who have for a number of years studied sorghum 

 poisoning and have recently demonstrated the presence of C3'anic acid 

 in the green leaves of 3'oung and old sorghum plants and Kafir corn. 



The poison, it is stated, is always present in at least minute traces, 

 but becomes dangerous only when the plant is arrested by dry weather 

 at certain stages of its grow^th. Sunlight such as prevails in the arid 

 and semiarid parts of the United States causes the development of the 

 poison in excess. When the s3'mptoms of poisoning do not appear so 

 violent!}" as to make medical treatment out of the (piestion, drenching 

 the animal with a solution of corn sirup or wdth sweet milk is suggested. 

 Thoroughly cured Kafir corn that had been especially deadly before 

 harvesting was fed without producing any symptoms of poisoning. 



Experiments to stud}' the cause of the injurious effects of cotton- 

 seed meal were carried on with pigs by R. R. Dinwiddle,'' which fur- 

 nished considerable information regarding the length of time which 

 small amounts of cotton-seed ineal ma}' be fed, symptoms of poisoning 

 induced by larger amounts, and related topics, but did not show defi- 

 nitely to what the poisonous effects were due. 



FEEDING-STUFFS INSPECTIONS. 



Although the experiment stations had from the first analyzed quite 

 generally the feeding stuffs found in the markets and called attention 

 to the variation in their composition and the effect of this upon their 

 real value, there was no inspection and control of concentrated feeding 

 stuff's under law in the United States until 1897. 



aU. S. Dept. Agr. Yearbook 1900, p. 305. 

 ^ Vermont Sta. Bui. 95. 



c Nebraska Sta. Rpt. 1901, pp. 50, 55; Bui. 77. Jour. Comp. Med. and Vet. Arch., 

 23 (1902), p. 704; Jour. Amer. Chem. Soc, 25 (1903), p. 55. 

 d Arkansas Sta. Bui. 76. 



