X 



MOLDS, SMUTS, AND BACTERIA 



Mysterious Enemies — Preventive Forethought — Using 

 One'sRecords — Blocking Out a System— Aspergillosis 



— Breathing Organs of Fowrls — Poor Curing and Mold 



— Handicaps of the City-bred Farmer and Poultryman 



— Studying ground Stuffs — Milk and Bacteria 



Not only every Beginner, but virtually every worker 

 with poultry, meets, somewhere along the road, mys- 

 terious enemies to his fullest success. These cause 

 him infinite anxiety and questioning. One may fight an 

 open foe with a good will and with courage ; but the 

 secret enemy kills courage; and even hope, sometimes. 

 These invisible foes are usually to be grouped under 

 the three heads — molds, smuts, and bacteria. Their 

 habits are such that they may affect whole broods, whole 

 flocks; they may spread destruction like a pestilence, 

 when the knowledge of a single fact might have made 

 the worker victorious over them. Their power for wide- 

 spread destruction rests in two items : they are invisible 

 to the naked eye, or virtually so ; and, they are often in 

 the food. 



A promising brood, with which the utmost pains have 

 been taken, may have reached almost the age of safety, 

 in thrift and happiness. Suddenly one or two are 

 noticed to be ailing, and, before the owner has had 

 much more than time to wonder what can be the trouble, 

 nearly all are showing signs of distress. In a day, it 

 may be, — or two days, — or a week, all have " dropped 

 I "3 



