Corn Stalk Disease. 109- 



every precaution should be taken to prevent the spread 

 of the disease. If animals die in the barn, the litter 

 should be burned and the stable cleaned and disinfected. 

 The organism does not form spores, hence is easily de- 

 stroyed in stables through the use of disinfectants. 



CORN STALK DISEASE. 



In those sections of the country in which it is the cus- 

 tom to pick the corn from the standing stalks, and then 

 turn cattle into the fields, a disease known as ' ' corn stalk 

 disease ' ' is sometimes encountered. The trouble appears 

 soon after the cattle are turned into the corn field (4 to 

 10 days). It appears without warning and kills the cat- 

 tle very quickly. Animals that seem to be well at night 

 are found dead in the morning. Usually all of the ani- 

 mals that die of this trouble are lost in a single day or at 

 least in a few days. 



On account of the suddenness with which death occurs, 

 and the large losses which follow in a short time, it is 

 often taken for a specific contagious disease, especially 

 for anthrax, black leg, or hemorrhagic septicaemia. It 

 is important to differentiate the disease from those men- 

 tioned. This can be done by the relation of the appear- 

 ance of the disease in the herd to the period of allowing 

 the cattle access to the stalks, and by the fact that in 

 corn-stalk disease the tissues appear normal on post-mor- 

 tem examination. 



