The Wichita city eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1872-1883, 1881-12-29

Every fall and winter, the country |
press contains accounts of cattle dying
In stalk fields, and most frequently their
having eaten too much smut is assigned
Is the cause. or course, when man
has been somewhat neglectful Of his
stock tor few days after first turning
them into freshly turned corn field,
and is then brought to his senses by
finding some favorits COW, or the best
one, two or three of his bunch of steers
Ill ready for skinning, it is very COM
forting to be able to say Especially If
conscicntiously said), that "smut killed
'em, aud nobody's to blame" The
probability is that nineteen out of every
twenty such cattle SO found dead died
from one or both Of two prominent
causes with which "smut' was not even
remotely connected. One of these is
the gorging of the animals stomachs
with an enormous quantity of highly
stimulating food, much of it difficult OF
digestion, directly after their having
been kept on meagre, frostbitten pas
turage, or the scant nourishmcnt OF
straw stack, which was TO tide them
over from grass to such time as the corn
would be out Of the field. Such sud
den and violent change could scarcely
do otherwise than dcmoralize the entire
digestive system; and death, equally
sudden, violent, and unlooked-for, en-
sues. The other prominent cause is the
eating largely of the woody, fibrous
stalks and shucks-more especially the
former-lster in the season when the
better portion of the food has been con-
sumcd, and little else remains, and in-
sufficient water is taken to soften and
float it up as it must be before the pro-
cesses of digestion can be completed !;
the masscomes to stand-still, owing to
impaction. forms sort of blockade in
the manifolds or third stomach, infiam-
nation sets in, and the animal is past
help.
Among the important steps towards
guarding against aud preventing losses
from these causes may be mentioned,
first, that cattle should not be turned
into fresh stalk field when very hum
ory, but be well fed beforehand, if pos
sible, with plenty of good hay, and
sailed an hour is as long as they should
be allowed in the first day, and the time
may be each day be gradually extended.
as the stock become more accustomed
to their now diet. Secondly, they
should not be trusted to 60 to water of
their own accord, but should be driven
not to the neighborhood of it, but to
Il, and into it, and given so plenty of
time there that there can be no mistake
about each ones getting full drink.
To encourage their appetites for water,
an abundance of salt should be kept
where they will have ready access to it
all the time and if the salt is mixed
with its weight of hickory or other
hardwood ashes, it will be that much
the better.
If these simple precautions are duly
attended to, there will be but few losses
reported from "smut," ''murrain,"
"staggers," etc., in all the innumerable
corn fields of the West, the pasturaSe
of which will be SO much needed before
the coming of another grass crop. To
those who, on any pretext, cannot or
win not heed them, we would say, let
your cattle give the stalk fields wide
berth. If You have any cattle that you
really can afford to spare, they can be
disposed of now at a very much better
price than is likely 10 be obtained for
their dried hides in the spring, even
though hides should be unusually high
at that time. AS rule, selling hides Is
. business that farmers and stock-raisers
should have as little to do with as pos
eible.-Byeeder's Gdzette.