THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



213 



the flowers, that seeduig is rendered very difficult. 

 Repeat this operation in spring as soon as the broad 

 blades appear above the ground ; this will scotch the 

 leaves — the very lungs of the plant ; and if this be fol- 

 lowed by pasturage with horses, folded sheep, or any 

 animals which will rather tread it than eat it, it will not 

 many years survive the treatment, for this plan will 

 prevent new planto from seed, whilst the old ones will 

 fast die out from such rough usage. 



We now come to an examination of an affection 

 to which grass itself is liable, which there is reason 

 to believe is often productive of serious results to 

 cattle, namely, that condition of the grain which 

 is called Ergot. Ergot of rye is the name given to 

 a peculiar spurred condition of the seed of the cereal 

 rye, in which the seed becomes changed into a long, 

 more or less, black or purple spur, of a tough 

 horny consistence ; these spurs are collected in quan- 

 tity in rye-growing countries, for the purpose of 

 medical use, being considered an active drug, which is 

 much relied on by the obstetric practitioner for its ef- 

 fects in hastening the climax in cases of difficult partu- 

 rition : it is also nefariously employed to procure abor- 

 tion — facts which speak loudly for its potency ; but from 

 tne description given by medical writers of its effects in 

 the small but continued repetition of it, in the small 

 quantities in which it would be taken where bread is 

 made from the affected corn, we are led to believe that 

 its operation is perfectly appalling, producing what has 

 been described as dry gangrene, and so killing off whole 

 districts by the most lingering tortures. 



These remarks, then, are sufficient to show that ergot 

 of rye (the Secale cornutum of the chemists) has very 

 decided medicinal action, and it now remains to show 

 that grass herbage in general is aflected with the same 

 fungoid growth. Now, any one who will take the 

 trouble to examine the bunches of flowers of diflferent 

 grasses, as the dews of autumn begin to gather round 

 them, and wet them with hygrometric moisture, espe- 

 cially in the months of September, October, and No- 

 vember, will observe that almost every species will have 

 its seeds more or less ergotized : the perennial rye-grass 

 is particularly liable to this change, and we have noticed 

 it in nearly all our commoner species,, the spur varying 

 ia size according to the size of the seed of the grass 

 attacked, and there is then no difference, as far as we 

 can observe, between the ergot in rye and that of other 

 grasses, only that the former has a larger spur, because 

 as a cereal grass its seed is so much greater than that of 

 the meadow grasses. 



Now, where meadow grasses are affected by ergot 

 there is reason to apprehend poisonous effects to the 

 cattle that depasture it. This is an opinion held by that 

 accomplished mycologist the Rev. J. M. Berkeley; and 

 others, who have studied this matter ; and we may here 

 mention that some few years since the Earl Ducie 



suffered great loss from the abortion of several of his 

 valuable Shorthorned cows — a loss, indeed, which he 

 estimated at as much as ^1,000 for one year : at that 

 time a quantity of grasses collected from the pastures, 

 mostly perennial rye, were submitted to our inspection 

 in order to ascertain if there was anything about them 

 likely to contribiite to the result mentioned, and as they 

 were much affected with ergot, we had even at that time 

 not much doubt but that they really were the cause of 

 the mischief complained of ; and as this view is now 

 pretty general with those who have thought of the mat- 

 ter, it is desirable that pastures liable to this affection 

 should be watched, and either that the bents should be 

 skimmed off and removed, at least before delicate cattle 

 are turned into them, orthat they should for a time be 

 avoided altogether. 



The plants which give flavour to dairy products will 

 be understood from the following names : 



Allium vineale — Crow garlick. 



,, ursinum — Hogs garlick. 

 Erysimum allearia — Jack-by-the-hedge, or sauce- 

 alone. 



These all possess an onion-like flavour. The two first 

 are common in some meadows, and where the butter is 

 sent to market their effects are so disagreeable as to 

 seriously affect the price ; in fact, for dairy purposes, a 

 meadow much affected with garlics is, from this cir- 

 cumstance alone, reduced fully one-third in value, as it 

 cannot be used for milking-stock in spring, and if mown 

 the new hay becomes highly flavoured with these weeds, 

 which, however, goes off with age ; it is, therefore, 

 worth while to take some pains to compass its destruc- 

 tion, and as it will be almost impossible to get it up 

 unless it be in only a few truly distinct patches , our 

 principle of action must be never to let it perfect its 

 leaves — an end which will be best attained by the pro- 

 cess recommended for the eradication of the Colchicum : 

 thickly stock it with horses and bullocks, if only for a 

 portion of the day, asid closely fold sheep on any patches 

 of the weed in such a manner and for such periods as 

 will prevent any leaves from recovering their bruises ; 

 two or three seasons of such treatment will be usually 

 sufficient for the purpose, and good will accrue to the 

 pastures from the action itself. 



The Jack-by-the-hedge, as its name implies, will 

 usually be found around the boundaries of the meadow ; 

 and as this is either an annual or biennial plant, it 

 should never be allowed to seed ; and hence, then, con- 

 stant pulling, which would easily be done as a day's 

 work by a boy, will be quite enough for a very large 

 field, a cost which would be amply repaid by giving 

 better herbage a chance to grow, which it cannot where 

 the ground is taken possession by so tall and large- 

 leaved a plant as Jack-by-the-hedgs which though 

 sauce-alone, is far from solitary in its habit of growth. 



