928 THE COMPLETE GRAZIER. BOOK x. 



very sheltered places, however, the boisterous winds of November 

 possess sufficient violence to detach the ripe ergots from the positions 

 they have usurped, so that they fall into stagnant water or upon 

 moist earth, and there remain till the warmth of approaching 

 summer causes them to germinate and to discharge into the air 

 their myriads of microscopic spores, some of which, coming into 

 contact with the expanding florets of grasses, alight upon the 

 ovaries, as a result whereof these latter, instead of ripening into the 

 grain or " seed," develop into new ergots. 



Having shown that the presence of ergot may fairly be looked for 

 during about half the year, we pass on to notice the localities in which 

 it may be expected to occur. These are neither the regularly-mown 

 meadow nor the well-grazed pasture. In the former the grasses are 

 cut too early to permit of the development of ergot, whilst in the latter 

 the grasses are seldom allowed to attain the flowering stage which, as has 

 been explained, is an indispensable antecedent to the appearance of 

 ergot. But the boundaries of meadow or pasture are frequently such 

 as to favour in the highest degree the rapid development of ergot. A 

 stagnant ditch overshadowed by a hedge seldom fails to afford ergoted 

 grasses at the proper season. Similarly, a damp, low-lying spot in a 

 grass-field, where the herbage is rank and sour, is a locality which 

 need rarely be searched in vain. Badly-drained grass lands, therefore, 

 are favourable to ergot, and it follows that thorough drainage is a 

 radical remedy for reducing the presence of the pest to a minimum. 

 Roadside ditches constitute a very favourite habitat of ergot, and in 

 such localities we have seen it growing in the greatest profusion. 

 Cattle in passing along roads and lanes bordered by such ditches 

 obtain easy access to large quantities of ergot. Stagnant water and 

 sluggish streams appear to be much more favourable to the growth of 

 ergot than do swift-flowing streams, probably because in the latter the 

 velocity of the current would sweep away any ergots that happened to 

 come under its influence, whereas in the former caseis the ergots 

 would remain where they had fallen and germinate in the following 

 season. 



The presence of ergot having been detected in a locality to which 

 in-calf cows have ready access, steps should be taken to remove the 

 ergot out of reach of the cows, but, failing this, to keep the cows 

 away from the ergot. As the autumn advances and the close of the 

 grazing season approaches, a special source of danger arises from the 

 circumstance that pastures begin to fail, and cows find an increasing 

 difficulty in obtaining a sufficiency of food. Then it is they begin to 

 graze in spots which they have previously shunned, and to seek for 

 food in the damp herbage amongst which ergot luxuriates. Conditions 

 better calculated to induce abortion can hardly be conceived, and, 

 once commenced amongst a herd of in-calf cows, abortion may extend 

 indefinitely. 



A common source of ergot is to be found in grass seeds, and it is 

 highly important that all seeds, whether for one or two years' ley, or 

 for longer duration, should be carefully examined before sowing. If 



