REPORT 



OK 



PROF. GAMGEE ON THE ILL EFFECTS OF SMUT IN FEED OF FARM ANIMALS. 



SIR : The opportunity presented itself last fall for an inquiry as to the manner in which 

 the smuts which attack plants may affect animals. The latter part of 1868 was, throughout 

 America, very wet ; a large amount of corn became smutty, that is to say, was attacked to 

 a serious extent by Ustilago maidis, and reports reached me from the West and South that 

 cattle were dying in large numbers from a mysterious malady, the origin of which was 

 unknown. Prom Mills County, Iowa, I was informed, late in November, that about the 

 12th of the month there was a fall of snow six inches deep, and that the cattle, which 

 usually roam at large on the prairies, were taken in by all the better farmers who had 

 their corn gathered, and turned into the stalk fields. In about eight days the cattle began 

 to die, all presenting the same symptoms. My informant, Mr. James Hull, of Plattsmouth, 

 Nebraska, lost four out of nineteen head in fourteen days. This gentleman, alarmed at 

 the number of deaths, turned his cattle out of the stalk field and gave them all the salt 

 they would eat, mixed with copperas and sulphur. As soon as the bowels were moved 

 the symptoms disappeared. Mr. Hull also gave the cattle asafoetida by &quot;driving it into 

 the cob of the corn.&quot; 



Personal inquiries among gentlemen from different parts of the United States, in 

 Washington, enabled me to trace the malady in Western Virginia, Illinois, and the Caro- 

 linas. It is much to be regretted that accurate information as to the extent of losses, and 

 the localities affected, cannot be secured. 



There are other circumstances under which cattle die from eating corn. The stalks, 

 very late in the season, are apt to become very hard and indigestible, and without a free 

 admixture of grass, which the early frosts kill, or other food, they produce severe indi 

 gestion and death. This is an observation that has often been made in America. More 

 over, cattle die sometimes if freely fed on corn that has been badly stored, and is musty. 

 The same results follow the use of other deteriorated foods, and a brief reference to records 

 on this subject may be found interesting and instructive. 



The facts publishe d with regard to the prevalence of a malady among cattle in Amer 

 ica, caused by eating smutty corn, are very few. If, however, the real cause of many cases 

 of so-called dry murrain had been recorded correctly, there would be no difficulty in 

 demonstrating that the condition of the corn-fields has had much to do in developing this 

 disorder. 



The Department of Agriculture has received information of the death of cattle from 

 eating smutty corn, in Hampshire County, Massachusetts. Also from Whitley County, 

 Indiana, where seven head- of cattle, out of fifty, died, &quot;probably from smut in the corn 

 field in which the herd ranged.&quot; 

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