BULLETIN NO. 2O8. 



STUDIES IN FORAGE POISONING-VI. 



An Anaerobic Organism Isolated from Ensilage of 

 Etiologic Significance. 



By 



ROBERT GRAHAM, A. L. BRUECKXER AND R. L. PONTIUS. 



The Kentucky Agricultural Experiment Station has been 

 called upon from time to time to investigate sporadic outbreaks 

 of forage poisoning in animals. Various suspected feeds from 

 different farms where the disease has been observed have been 

 studied, including oat hay, corn fodder, orchard grass and si- 

 lage. It is difficult, from physical examination, to select from 

 the ration the feed responsible for the disease. Feeding tests 

 have therefore been projected to establish a practical working 

 basis. Such tests have in a few instances given positive evi- 

 dence, while many feeds have been fed with negative results. 

 The labor involved in a bacteriological examination of feeds 

 which incorporate the etiologic factor, without a definite plan 

 for rapidly eliminating organisms of no consequence, is an al- 

 most endless task. Varying methods of procedure have there- 

 fore been employed in studying feeds which have been proved 

 capable of producing the disease subsequently to ingestion. 



The samples of feed from sporadic outbreaks of forage 

 poisoning submitted for feeding tests, have in each case been 

 considered representative, but it is understood that the selection 

 of such samples has its limitations. The possibility of con- 



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