FOOD 



167 



but it cannot repair the damage done to the grain. This is 

 dark externally, and on splitting it the flour is found 

 discoloured, the grain also has a peculiar smell known as 

 ' foxy.' 



With fodder the air drying will kill the fungi, and the 

 spores, which are often very irritating to the nostrils, may 

 be got rid of by shaking ; but the hay has lost its true 

 aroma, and nothing seems to get rid of the faint mouldy 

 smell, even after prolonged exposure to air and sun. As 

 the result of fermentation the mass generally darkens in 

 colour, but this should not be confounded with the darken- 

 ing which results from fermentation in the stack, where 

 hay has been ricked too early. 



Fig. 32.— Oidium aureum. B, Spores further magnified (Boucher). 



As the result of mouldiness hay has lost much of its 

 nourishment, it is brittle, and though perhaps not so 

 dangerous as damaged grain, it is nevertheless innutritious. 



Clover sickness is due to a fungus. Sclerotinia ciborioides, 

 which attacks the roots and stems of clover, the red clover 

 especially.* Once it finds its way into a field, no more 

 clover should be grown on it for some years. This disease 

 is only of interest to the agriculturalist. 



T^h.6 Animal Parasites affecting food are divided into those 

 attacking it during the life of the plant, and those which 



* Journal Boyal Agricultural Society of England, vol. Ixiv., 1903: 

 H. Giissow. 



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