SILAGE PRESERVATION 13 



heavy mold near the wall. This is not true of a good con- 

 crete silo, but has usually been the case where sufficient 

 cement was not used. 



Forage or Mold Poisoning. Some of these silage molds 

 are poisonous, especially to horses. The following is a state- 

 ment taken from Press Bulletin No. 30 (Iowa), by C. H. 

 Stange, head of the Veterinary Department of the Iowa State 

 College, with reference to this problem: 



"Iowa farmers have suffered heavy losses in the past few 

 months by the death of horses from a disease that affects 

 these animals almost exclusively. It is usually fatal; it is 

 not contagious, and it is quite certain that it comes from the 

 eating of moldy fodder or grain. There is only one safe- 

 guard against it and that is the rejection of any feed that 

 shows signs of mold. Ensilage and corn fodder of any kind 

 and hay from swampy lands need to be inspected with special 

 care, for they are the most likely to be moldy. Cattle often 

 seem to eat spoiled plant food without harm, but to horses 

 it is poisonous. 



"This disease has been called by various names: Forage 

 poisoning, cryptogamic poisoning, enzootic cerebritis, epi- 

 zootic cerebro-spinal meningitis, leuco-encephalitis, etc. 



"It usually appears in isolated outbreaks and generally 

 the horses on a single farm in a community are affected. In 

 some cases where horses are not fed alike, only those given 

 a certain kind of feed are taken sick. In these facts there is 

 quite conclusive evidence that the disease is associated with 

 the food eaten and that it is not transmitted from one animal 

 to another. The outbreaks appear more frequently in low, 

 swampy districts because conditions there are more favorable 

 for the development of the molds and the undesirable changes 

 in plant foods believed to be responsible for the disease. It 

 is not by any means confined to these districts, however, 



