120 THE BEGINNER IN POULTRY 



fowl diseases. Some sick birds were described as going 

 blind ; others as unable to swallow ; others as thirsty 

 and ravenous for food; some were lame, some had lost 

 control of the legs, some were very nervous ; with some 

 there were symptoms of internal pain ; some showed 

 convulsive attacks, and some had discharges and cheesy 

 swellings of eye, nostril, and mouth. Let me hasten to 

 say that such aggregated evil conditions are not at all 

 common ; indeed, they were so uncommon as to show 

 inexcusable carelessness or lamentable ignorance, and 

 the first thing the M. D. advised was to kill all that were 

 much sick. Then he ordered disinfection, internal, ex- 

 ternal, and almost eternal, with burning of litter and 

 change of feed. The owner confessed to feeding kaffir 

 corn, millo maize, and broom corn seed "in all its dust 

 and straw," and said that he had heard that broom corn 

 dust was poisonous to human flesh when the skin was 

 broken. The M. D. stated that the mold spores con- 

 tained in the dust of the broom corn seed and straw were 

 undoubtedly the root of the trouble, and ordered the 

 whole outfit of unusual grains discontinued, at least for 

 a time. 



It seems to me that a majority of people are so con- 

 stituted that they cannot follow directions unless they 

 know the "why." The Beginner who can follow di- 

 rections, as given by those already successful and expert, 

 need never fall into any such difficulty as the above. 

 But I give this instance as a striking warning not to 

 use dusty stuff when it seems possible that the dust may 

 be due to mold. 



It is good training to visit a mill, or several dealers in 

 mill products and study the appearance of the ground 



