762 



Ergot. 



[dec, 



Prices. — The prices of furze seed have sensibly risen for 

 several years past. In C6tes-du-Nord the prices for foxtail 

 during the last two or three years have been as follows : 

 maximum price, is. 6d. to is. 8d. per lb., minimum price, 

 is. 2d. per lb. ; and the price for ordinary seed has been about 

 gd. to nfd. per lb. Higher prices than these, however, seem 

 to have been realised during 191 1 in some Departments. In 

 Morbihan is. 6d. per lb. is stated to have been obtained for 

 common seed, and 3s. 4d. per lb. for foxtail. As much as 

 3s. 8d. per lb. is said to have been paid in Dordogne. 



This well-known parasitic fungus (Claviceps purpurea, Tul.) 

 is of economic interest from two distinct standpoints, viz., its 

 baneful influence on plant and animal 



Erg'ot res P ect ^ ve ^y- The great mortality 



that at one time existed amongst the 

 inhabitants of certain parts of France 

 and other countries where rye, contaminated with ergot, con- 

 stituted the staple food, is now, fortunately, to a great extent 

 a thing of the past, owing to the fact that the subject has been 

 thoroughly investigated. This has led to the almost total 

 eradication of ergot from our cereal crops. On the other 

 hand, ergot is exceedingly abundant on many wild grasses in 

 this country, and undoubtedly proves highlv injurious to 

 cattle. This idea has long been entertained by farmers in 

 this country, but the subject has been most exhaustively in- 

 vestigated in the United States. A serious epidemic of cattle, 

 at first considered to be "foot-and-mouth disease," was proved 

 to be caused by ergotised food. Abortion also frequently 

 occurs when cattle graze in pastures where ergot is abundant. 



The first stage of the fungus appears in the form of 

 blackish, horn-like bodies projecting from the inflorescence of 

 cereals and various grasses. The myriads of minute repro- 

 ductive bodies produced on these black sclerotia are conveyed 

 by insects to the flowers of other grasses, which in turn 

 become infected. Dunng the autumn these black bodies, or 

 sclerotia, fall to the ground, and remain in an unchanged 

 condition until the following spring, when they produce a 

 second form of fruit, the spores of which are scattered by 

 wind, &c, and infect the flowers of grasses, thus setting up 



