422 



The Care of Animals 



should be tapped at once, and treated as in ordinary 



eases of bloating. 



Cattle are sometimes poisoned from eating quantities 



of flax chaff. They are often fed flax straw and chaff 



with good results ; but fine flax chaff should not be fed 

 alone to cattle that are not used to it; 

 even a small quantity eaten under unfavor- 

 able conditions may cause acute indigestion 

 and death. It should always be mixed 

 with coarser food, and but little given at 

 a time. 



Ergotism is a chronic form of poison- 

 ing resulting from the eating of ergot. It 

 is sometimes serious among cattle. Ergot 

 is a fungus that attacks certain grasses, 

 especially rye and plants known as "wild 

 rye," causing the heads to have abnormal 

 grains. This is commonly called "spurred 

 rye." Fig. 59. When ergot is eaten in 

 any quantity, it causes irritation of the 

 bowels, colics, abortion in pregnant fe- 

 males, and a sloughing of the extremities. 

 Rye, with ergot such as the fcct and tail. The treatment 



at a (X %). The . ^ ^- ^ . 



diseased grains IS to rcmovc the causc auQ givc good laxa- 



are enlarged and 



black. tive food. 



Fig. 



MOLDY CORN 



In the corn- growing regions of the West, in years 

 when the corn crop is poor and the ears are small and 

 damaged by the green corn -worm, the ear, especially 



