The silver messenger. (Challis, Idaho) 1890-1912, 1901-03-26
POISON ON THE FARM.
NOxIoUs PLANTS WHICH KILL
OFF STOCK.
Death Turks In Many Growths Common
In the Fields-Fnfy-Two Kinds Are
Poisonous and seventy-six Are Under
the Ban OF suspicion. v

R0iSonotis ana SeNenty->h Are tnoer
the Ban OF suspicion. v
The unfailing instinct Of Wild ami
mails which teaches them what forms
of vegetation are harmful or poisonous
seems to be lost when the animals are
domesticated. as a result Of which
thousands Of head of live stock are lost
in this country every year through
poisonous vegetation. The department
of agriculture has made a scientific in
v~estigation and has issued a catalogue
Of plants that are poisonous or dan
gerous to stock. There are 80 species
that are poisonous. 80 concerning the
poisonous qualities Of which there is
good though not positive evidence. and
81 which COM under the head of sus-
poets. Nearly all Of these forms OF
vegetation are of common growth in
various parts of the country. OF the
grasses, which nearly all ruminant an
imals of this continent feed upon, sew
eral species are dangerous. The seed
of the darnel, or poison rye grass,
which grows a~bundantly on the Paci-
fe slope. is said to be dangerous 10
both animals and man. In New Mexico
and Arizona grows a perennial grass
locally known as sleepy grass. which
horses and cattle bred in that region
recognize and eschew as harmful, bat
imported stock feed upon it and often
die Of its narcotic effects. falling int
a deep slumber, from which it is I'M
possible to arouse them. Indian corn
grass has been described as fatal to
cattle when eaten in large quantities,
but the poisonous properties are due,
not 10 the vegetation itself, but to pa
rasitic growths upon it. The common
species Of ergot which grows among
meadow grasses causes yearly a heavy
mortality. Every year farmers report
the poisoning of cattle from eating
golden rod, and this, TOO. is very likely
a case OF parasitic growth, known as
rust. Another product Of the flower
garden, and one of the most beautiful
is a swift and violent poison to man
and beast alike: the delicate and frag
rant lily of the valley. Cases of severe
poisoning are on record. where people
have merely bitten at the stems OF
the plant in abstraction.
Most dreaded Of all poisonous weeds
by ranchmen is the loco weed. common
in one or another of its forms through
out the west. where it does enormous
damage 10 stock. The chief damage is
to horses, which seem to take to the
weed more readily thar cattle, an
soon become loeoed. A horse is said tr
be locoed when he acquires an unnat
ural appetite for the deleterious weed
Once in this condition he viii touci
no other food and in a short time be
comes crazy. in which state he some
times runs wild. lashing out with hi
J heels and biting at the man or ANNA
that comes nes him. and sometime
staggers about with dropping head an,
. half-elosed eyes till death supervenes
The OF death is thought to b
hamilton rather than actual poisoning
in loco cases, as there is 10 nourish
ment in the weed and the animals ad
! dicted to the habit pine away wit
surprising rapidly. The loco habit il
horses is comparable to the opium 0
n hasheesh habit in human beings, ex
q cept that the animal, having no rea
+ soning powers to act as check upon hi
appetite. succumbs more quickly. Tn
n state Of Colorado between 1881 an
a 1885 paid out in bounties nearly 5000
0O0 in an effort to exterminate III
woolly loco weed, which is the con
n n species in that region, but tn
plant is still abundant there. To shee
the lupines, a genius Of ~herbaceor
d shrub, are almost as deadly as the loo
is to horses. Reports from three hero
in 1898 show a mortality of 1900 fro,
lupine eating.
l. In the eastern half of the Unite
a States, where it chiefly grows. the ra
le tlebox. or rattlewood, is an object
n concern to farmers. lest it becou
is mixed with hay in cutting. for in tn
Id way it is frequently fatal to horse
4 sometimes to cattle. In its grown
le state animals viii not touch it. Tn
le curious weed is also a source of e
he IRENE terror to human beings who e
4; counter it after the plant has begl
lie to set dry. and the oblong pods whiS
le it bears begin to stifen, for in III.
ed condition the peas within the pod
III when the plant is struck or brushi
OF against. rattle with an exact and hlos
v chilling imitation of the warning
the rattlesnake.
sign Was Unfortunate.
A clothing merchant in lower Broa