198 STATE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE 



The experiment began November G, 1895. 



Matema and Milla, the former six months in calf at the beginning 

 of the experiment and the hitter due to calve early in its progress, were 

 fed corn smut in as large doses as they could be induced to receive it. 



Halo fresh in milk, and Hebe six months in calf at the beginning of 

 the experiment received the smut in moderate doses only. 



To each of the two cows, Hebe and Halo, two ounces of smut were 

 given daily from the 7th to the 12th of November. On the 12th this 

 quantity was doubled, each cow receiving four ounces. On the 13th 

 the ration of smut was again doubled and each cow was given one-half 

 pound. This quantity was again increased on the 15th to twelve ounces 

 and finally on the 17th to one pound per day. 



A pound of smut in the condition existing at the time of the experi- 

 ment would fill a two-quart measure. 



For Materna and Milla on the other hand the dose was very rapidly 

 increased from two ounces per day, on the 7th and 8th of November, to 

 four ounces on the 9th and 10th, six ounces on the 11th and 12th, 

 twelve ounces on the 13th and 14th, one pound and a quarter on the 

 15th and 16th, one pound and three-fourths on the 17th and 18th and 

 finally tw'o pounds per day of the smut each, from the 19th of November 

 to the 12th of December inclusive. In order to test the matter fully 

 the amount given these cows was very rapidly increased after the 13th 

 of December. On that day they each received three pounds of smut, on 

 the 14th four pounds, on the 15th five pounds, on the 16th six pounds, 

 on the 17th seven pounds, on the 18th ten pounds, and finally on the 

 19th eleven pounds, when the experiment closed. 



Ten pounds of smut shovelled into a half bushel measure filled it. It 

 is evident that the cows received in this daily ration more smut than 

 they could possibly get in foraging over a corn field after the removal 

 of the crop or in the stables in the winter when fed exclusively upon 

 corn stalks as the roughage of the ration. 



At the beginning of the experiment the cows ate the smut with great 

 avidity, and the two cows, Hebe and Halo, who received it in moderate 

 quantities only, continued to prefer it to their grain feed up to the close 

 of the experiment. The two cows who received it in immoderately large 

 quantities, on the other hand, manifested a less liking for it, as the quan- 

 tity was increased, although they did not reject it up to the very last day 

 of the experiment. 



No change in appearance was noticed in the dung until the 22d of 

 November, when it was observed to be distinctly darker than that of 

 other cows in the stable fed a similar ration of grain and fodder without 

 the smut. In consistency it was somewhat harder than normal and pos- 

 sibly in the cases of Materna and Milla, somewhat scantier. 



Except in the case of Milla, who dropped her calf on the 5th of Decem- 

 ber, the weights of the cows for the most part gradually increased. Cer- 

 tainly no ill effect was noticed which could be ascribed to the feeding 

 of corn smut. 



An examination of Table III reveals no variations in temperature that 

 could be ascribed to the corn smut. The low temperature of Materna 

 on November 8 was due to her having been exposed to a cold rain storm 

 for a couple of hours previous to the taking of the temperature. The 

 temperature of Milla dropped suddenly just prior to her calving. 



